


If looks could kill

by dont_hate_me01



Category: NCIS
Genre: Bottom Tony, Character bashing Jenny Shepard, Graphic Torture, Language, M/M, Male Slash, Top Gibbs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-10
Updated: 2016-10-10
Packaged: 2018-08-20 15:17:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 42,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8253706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dont_hate_me01/pseuds/dont_hate_me01
Summary: What would happen if Tony accepts an undercover mission to stop a mercenary, but instead, ends up being kidnapped. Jealousy is an emotion so strong, that it can easily lead to murder. Who is responsible and will Gibbs find Tony in time?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **NB: Jenny Shepard is director, Kate is dead, Pacci doesn’t die and no Ziva!**
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you to the two most important people involved in this story, my Alpha reader, **jesco0307** who would exchange ideas with me until the story was finally hacked out. To my amazing Beta reader, **AmyH0127** who had the duty to get the story in shape and who I manage to shock a bit each and every time, thank you. To the mod, **solariana** over on **ncis_bang** , thank you again for hosting this awesome challenge. And lastly to, **thecookiemomma** my artist for this year’s challenge, thank you for the wonderful pieces of art you’ve created to bring this story to life!

[ ](http://s792.photobucket.com/user/Dont_hate_me01/media/If%20Looks%20Could%20Kill%20Banner_zpssnflnugi.png.html)

**Chapter 1**

Tony couldn’t help but to shiver as he felt eyes on him. He didn’t need to turn to know who was trying to kill him with a stare. He snorted at the thought. It gave new meaning to the saying _if looks could kill_.

He shook his head; she had no right to feel that way towards him. It was not as though he stole something from her, but still she hated him. Gibbs had rolled his eyes at him when he told him and said that he was being silly, but he wasn’t and it wasn’t his imagination. Jenny Shepard hated him and he had a feeling that she would find a way to make sure he suffered for _taking_ Jethro away from her. She loathed him, not for only having Gibbs’ six, but for being his friend and his lover. Director Shepard apparently wanted _that_ task all for herself.

“It looks like she’s planning your demise.” Abby’s voice next to him startled him and he nodded once.

“I’ve noticed.” He whispered back and then turned to look at the woman standing on the stairs looking down into the bullpen. He could see how her eyes turned cold. Her back went stiff and as she turned and walked away, he could swear he heard her growl.

“Creepy,” Abby shivered. “Does Gibbs know?”

Tony sighed. “He’s says it’s my imagination.”

“What! Is he blind, I mean really? Can’t he see that? If she’s near you, the temperature drops like ten degrees. I’ll talk to the Bossman. He has to do something. She’s got no reason to hate you.” Abby stormed away, but was pulled back when Tony grabbed her arm.

“Leave it be, Abs. It’s only her second month here. She’ll settle in and things will be better.” He hoped.

Abby cocked her head. “I’m giving her a week. If she still looks at you with daggers in her eyes, I’ll confront her myself.”

Tony smiled. He knew Abby would go through with the threat. He could only hope that in the coming week things would become better. Maybe with Jethro out of town on protection duty for the SecNav things would settle down.

“I need to get back to my lab.” Abby hugged him hard. “I’ll see you tonight. You did remember right? It’s movie night.”

“I remembered, Abby. I’ll come and collect you at your lab when we can leave.” He hugged her back and then looked on as she scrambled off. He loved her with all his heart. She was the little sister, he always wanted.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Director Shepard wanted nothing more than to throw a tantrum in utter frustration, but she dared not. She had to play it calm; her chance of taking back what rightfully belonged to her, and what was right within her reach would come. She just had to be patient.

She smiled at herself. Her plan was perfect and no one would be able to trace anything back to her. The fact that SecNav requested Jethro was an extra bonus. She took a deep breath, schooled her features and picked up her phone. With a smile on her face, she informed Cynthia that she wished to see Agent DiNozzo.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Tony frowned as he answered his phone and learned that the director wanted to see him in her office. He looked at the time and sighed. He had no idea what the woman wanted, but it didn’t look like as if he was going to make it to movie night. He took out his phone and even as he started to text Abby, he caught McGee’s eye. “Go home, Probie. See you tomorrow.” He smiled as Tim grabbed for his bag and hurried off. He knew the young man had a date; he’d been teasing him mercilessly the whole day. Tomorrow he would fish and find out all the details. It was going to be perfect.

After McGee left, Tony packed up his own desk and headed up the stairs. He looked down on the bullpen and noticed that most of the agents had gone home. He smiled as he stepped into Cynthia’s office. “Going home as well, I see.”

Cynthia smiled. “Yes, and I can’t wait. It’s date night with my husband.” She smiled again. “The Director is just busy with a call and asked that you wait here, she’ll call you in when she’s ready.

“Thanks, Cynthia.” Tony took a seat and looked on as the young assistant packed her things and headed out of the door. His phone chimed in his pocket and he took it out. He rolled his eyes at the text. Abby was not impressed with him canceling their date. He looked at the time again. They would not make it to the movies, but he had enough movies at home to keep them entertained. He texted Abby back and told her to go to the house and pick out a movie. Since he moved in with Gibbs, he managed to convince the other man to lock his door. Now, Abby had a key, so he had no worries of her standing outside waiting for him. The fact that she used the key responsibly made it easier for both him and Gibbs. Her reply was short and he laughed at the silly image of happiness she had sent him. As the door opened, he placed the phone back in his pocket and stood up. He smiled at the director as she invited him in and walked in.

“What can I do for you, Director?” Tony asked as he stood in front of the desk.

“We've got a situation.” Jenny took out a file and handed it to him.

“May I?” Tony inquired as he looked over at the conference table.

“Sure,” Shepard replied, but stayed behind her desk.

Tony took his seat and quickly worked through the dossier. It was not a very thick file, but it looked well used and was very detailed. It seemed like Mr. Saunders was dealing in blood diamonds, but was very careful. No matter how many times he was stopped, they could never find the diamonds on him. It looked like he was booked on a flight out of the country tomorrow morning and was on his way to Hong Kong. If their information were correct, he would sell the diamonds there. He read on in silence and closed the cover, pushing his chair away from the table before he spoke up. “You want me to go in.” He made it a statement, not a question.

“Yes, we’ve only got this small window of opportunity and can’t lose it.”

Tony frowned. “Smuggling blood diamonds, not really in our jurisdiction.” The look on her face made him to continue. “When does the window close?”

“He flies out at nine.” Shepard stood up and walked around her desk as she ignored the first question. “He’s aware that the FBI and the rest of the alphabet agencies are after him, but he doesn’t know we’re on to him. You’ll be able to bring him in without him being spooked. He has the cunning ability to sniff out a cop or agent in an instant. If you’re able to _befriend_ him tonight and then meet up with him tomorrow, we can bust him, without rising suspicion. We need to find those diamonds on him.” A sneer appeared on her face. “And that, Agent DiNozzo is why _we_ are going after him. It will place us on the map.”

Feeling chastised, Tony nodded his head. He wasn’t about to tell her that they were already on the map, it seemed like their new Director was a bit insecure. “Why are we cutting this so close? Surely, if all the alphabet agencies are aware of him, we were too. This feels rushed. I don’t feel there’s enough time to form any bond with him, not even the most platonic bond.” There was something else bothering him, but he just couldn’t put his finger on it.

“I do hope you’re not questioning your _superior_ , Agent DiNozzo. I promise you, we kept a close eye on him and the feeling is that the best time to move is now.” She hoped she put him back in his place.

Tony cleared his throat. “I have to ask, Director. Why me?” He shook his head. “You don’t like me, so why me?”

“You’re the best undercover agent we have, that’s why. However, now I’m also starting to wonder about that. You seem unsure about your own capabilities. Maybe I should get someone else?” She remained silent on the issue of her feelings toward him. In fact, it wasn’t that she didn't like him - she hated him. There was a big difference between the two.

“I’m worried, that’s all. I will do it.” Tony would not let her snide remarks put him off. Instead, he straightened his shoulders and locked eyes with her. He waited patiently for her next remark.

She cleared her throat. “You also have a specific skill set that we need.”

Tony grinned and wiggled his fingers. He was a skilled pickpocket and could lift even wrists watches from unsuspecting people without them even realizing it. “I may be a bit rusty.”

Jenny cocked an eyebrow. “Surely it would not be a problem for you.”

Tony shook his head. “I’ll have to get some stuff first.” Tony stood to leave.

“You don’t need anything extra, Agent DiNozzo. You use your hands to lift things from people. You are renowned for being witty and can think on your feet. Your car is waiting for you downstairs.” Jenny took out a set of keys and held them out. “We’ve got this one chance only, Agent DiNozzo, we cannot fail. It’s an easy job. See you tomorrow, with Saunders in custody and the diamonds.”

“Where do I meet him?” Tony looked at the photograph supplied in the file. “How recent is this photo?”

“That photo was taken last month, so you don’t need to worry about being able to recognize him. Mr. Saunders is staying at the Jefferson Hotel. He normally dines at the Plume Restaurant around nine.” She looked at the time. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a meeting and I can’t be late. You also need to get going or you’ll be late.” She walked past him and opened the door, a clear indication that the conversation was over.

“What about backup?” Tony would not go into any operation without the necessary backup.

“I don’t think it would be necessary, but it’s all arranged, the team is in place. Because Saunders is so paranoid they will be out of sight, but they know to watch out for you, don’t worry.” She smiled.

“I still need to know who my backup is.” Tony could see the anger flashing behind her eyes.

Shepard swallowed hard and bit down on her teeth to refrain from barking out a snide remark. “The meeting I’m attending is very secure, therefor my own personal protection detail will act as your backup. I assume that is good enough for you?” Shepard took a step backward, opening the door wider.

Tony wanted to reply, it was highly irregular for the Director of NCIS to ditch their protection detail so easily, even when attending a secure meeting. But the look in her eyes told him that he was walking on thin ice. Instead, he nodded his head and stepped out as shut the door firmly at his back.

Jenny continued to smile as she heard him walk away. She took the file he left on the table and sat down behind her desk; she retrieved a second, thicker file from the false bottom of the drawer. For a moment, she sat with the file in her hand and wondered. Finally, she opened up a small cupboard and slowly fed the files paper by paper through the shredder. She would not be using that particular service ever again and Anthony DiNozzo would no longer be a problem. Jethro Gibbs would belong to her once again.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Tony walked into the hotel and made his way over to the restaurant where he hoped his mark was still enjoying his food. He frowned as he scanned the patrons. He had tried to get hold of Abby to tell her that there was a change of plans, but her phone was off. He knew she complained earlier that the battery was giving her trouble. He attempted to send her a text, but the last time he checked it was still undelivered. He had to leave his badge, weapon and phone in the car. He couldn’t be caught with it, not until he was ready to take the man down.

He was about to step up to the maître d' when someone collided with him and spilled something cold all over him.

“So sorry,” the man tried to wipe the wine from Tony’s shirt and jacket.

“No problem,” Tony ground his teeth at the mess the man made. He couldn’t quite believe his luck. It was only as he turned that he realized who the man was - his mark. By the look of things, the man had more than a few to drink. It was the opportunity he was looking for. He sighed. “Now I’ll be forced to cancel my date. There’s no way I can meet her like this.” Tony snorted and then held up a hand when the man across from him looked at him oddly. “It’s our second date. The first didn’t end so well.” He looked sheepishly. “I was surprised that she agreed to meet me a second time.” He tried to wipe at the wetness in frustration.

“And now it looks like I might’ve made things worse. I’m truly sorry. I really should look where I’m going.” The man turned and gestured for a waiter to come forward and turned to Tony. “What size do you wear?”

“What?” Tony asked dumbstruck.

“Well, we can’t have you show up like that. The least I can do is to buy you a new shirt. I would’ve offered you one of mine but not only is it secondhand, it would not fit. You’re much taller than I am.” The man turned and faced the waiter who was waiting patiently behind him. “Get me another and whatever my friend here wants to drink.” He waved to Tony to give his order and then turned to the maître d'. “Joseph, be so kind and get Charles down here. He’ll have to get my friend a new shirt.”

Tony looked on as the man not only ordered the waiter around, but also seemed to be on first name basis with the maître d'. He watched as the maître d' nodded his head and placed a call. “It’s not necessary you know, Mr. …?”

“Of course it is. The name is Gregory Saunders.” He reached out, grabbed Tony’s hand and shook it hard.

“Anthony DiNutso.” Tony introduced himself. He was surprised to hear the man using his real identity. According to what he’d read just hours before, the man loved using different names. He ignored the warning bells in his head.

“Nice to meet you, Anthony.” Gregory smiled as the waiter appeared with their drinks. He took his own and reached out to Tony’s. “Let's sit over here until we can get you a clean shirt. At what time are you to meet your date?”

Tony made a thing at checking his watch and frowned. “She’s late. We're supposed to meet here ten minutes ago.” He got up and looked around.

“You know how women are. They’re always running late. Moreover, this time it’s working in your favor. Now at least when can get you cleaned up before she arrives.” Gregory stood up as a man approached him. Tony looked on as the two men greeted each other and Gregory turned to Tony. “This is Charles; he’s a close friend, and would love to help you out.” As he was about to object again, Gregory held up his hand. “In fact, come on up to my room. I can’t have you change here in the middle of nowhere.” He turned to Charles. “Get us a few different ones, and don’t you dare bring something inferior. You know I only wear the best and since it’s on my account, only the best will do.”

He tried to protest, but Gregory overruled him and soon he and Gregory made their way to the man’s room. Tony couldn’t help but to be impressed as he first stepped into the suite. “I can get used to this.” He grinned.

Gregory laughed. “It’s nothing,” he shrugged his shoulders as he walked deeper into the room. “Make yourself at home. Charles will not be long.”

“Thank you.” Tony took out his phone. “Do you mind if I made a call?”

“No, not at all. Find out where your lady friend is. I’ll pour as another drink.”

Tony made as if he called a number from the burner phone, rolled his eyes as he waited for the call to be answered. He shook his head and then sighed. “I should’ve known it was too good to be true. She’s not answering her phone.” He ended the call and sighed again, making sure to drop his shoulders in defeat. “I’ve been stood up. Even better yet, I think I’ve been dumped.”

Gregory slapped Tony on the shoulder. “I’m so sorry to hear that.” He pressed the drink in Tony’s hand.

Tony looked down at the ruined shirt. “Well, now I don’t need the new shirt.” He looked at the drink, downed it in one and placed the glass down. “I should get going; I have an early flight tomorrow.”

“Nonsense, Anthony. I still ruined your shirt and owe you a new one.” Gregory indicated to the stylish couch. “Have a seat; Charles will be up here in a minute. I’m also flying out tomorrow. Where are you flying to?”

Tony had no other excuse so he sat. He was only seated for a moment and yet to answer the question when there was a knock on the door and Charles entered after Gregory opened up. The number of shirts Charles brought with him pleasantly surprised Tony. They were of top quality and he sighed at the thought that he’d be unable to keep the shirt for himself. Maybe if he completed this operation, Madam Director would let him keep it. He rolled his eyes at himself; he knew that would never happen. He picked out a formal shirt and dressed it carefully. He was surprised at the nearly perfect fit; it was as if the shirt was made for him.

“Excellent,” Gregory clapped his hands. He turned to Charles. “Put it on my tab.” He led Charles from the room and turned his attention back to Tony. “Another drink?” He didn’t wait for Tony’s reply, but stepped up to the cabinet and poured two tumblers, handing one over to Tony.

“Tell me about yourself,” he encouraged Tony as he took his seat.

Tony sipped carefully at his latest drink. He knew he had to take it easy, but the drink was smooth and he couldn’t help but to take another sip. “I’m a statistician. I work for an environmental company.”

“Doing risk assessment, I assume?” Gregory leaned forward. He genuinely seemed interested.

“Yes,” Tony sounded surprised, but couldn’t help to feel some trepidation. This was going too smoothly. He could feel Gibbs’ eyes staring disapprovingly at him, for not taking his warning bells seriously. Something told him to abort this operation. He should get up and leave. He looked at his watch. “I really need to get going.” He stood up. “Thank you for this shirt and the drinks.” He gathered the soiled shirt and jacket and headed for the door.

“It was nothing” Gregory shrugged. “Let me walk you out.” He held the door open and closed it behind him as he stepped out into the hall. “Once again accept my apology.” He placed his hand on Tony’s shoulder and squeezed it gently.

Tony shook his head. “Apology accepted.”

The two men made their way down to the lobby and Tony extended his hand. “It was nice meeting you, Gregory.” Tony knew he’d becoming back in a bit, but there was something off about this whole situation and he had to figure it out before he arrested the man. He needed to make contact with his backup team; he would want them close by when he arrested Saunders. Tony made a quick decision. He would make the arrest tonight and not wait for the following morning. The diamonds should be in the suite, they just had to look for them.

“I hope so too.” Gregory leaned forward and embraced Tony in a hug before releasing him again. He looked on as Tony stepped out of the hotel and then smirked. Things had gone down without a hitch. He took a look at his own watch and waited a few more minutes before he exited the building as well. It was not hard to spot Tony from where he stood. He quickly walked over and just as Tony's knees buckled. He grabbed hold of him and held him up. “Keep to your feet,” he grunted as he swung Tony's arm over his shoulder and made his way down the street with the man hanging on to him.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

The moment he stepped out into the fresh air, Tony realized that something was wrong. His vision was blurry and he stumbled over his own feet. He could feel the sweat dripping from him, while at the same time he shivered hard. “Fuck,” he looked around and for a moment wondered if he should go back into the hotel, but he had no idea of whom to trust. He stumbled again and hoped that his backup would see and come to his rescue. When no one came, he cursed again and slowly began to make his way back to where he parked the car. He knew that if he could reach it, he’d have the opportunity to phone Abby and she would send in the cavalry. His mind was so scrambled that he didn’t even remember the burner phone he had with him. He should’ve trusted his instincts; he should've known things were not going too smoothly. He tried to look back, he knew that Gregory would come for him, otherwise why would he’d have drugged him?

When he stumbled again, he grew cold when a voice spoke up next to him. _“Keep to your feet.”_ He tried to struggle but his limbs refused to work and he could do nothing as the man swung his arm over his shoulder and started walking with him deeper into the shadows. He thought he heard Gregory saying something about not much further, but nothing made sense and as his eyes rolled back in his head he could only think of one person - Gibbs.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Abby paced the room again. She had no idea where Tony was. He had texted her to say that something had come up, but didn’t explain what and now nearly five hours later he had yet to return. Her phone had stopped working and when she finally got the thing to work again, she called him only to find it went straight to his voice mail. She walked the length of the living room once again, groaned, sat down, got back up again and then reached for her phone. There was only one thing left that she could do.

 _“Gibbs”_ , a sleepy voice answered the phone.

“Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs,” Abby babbled immediately. “You have to come home; I don’t know where he is.”

 _“Abby?”_ Gibbs asked in concern and was awake instantly. _“What are you talking about?”_

“It’s Tony.” Abby wiped away the tears that stained her cheeks. “It’s been more than five hours, Gibbs, and he’s still not home. He’s not answering his phone. Should I go to the lab, see if I can get his GPS location, what should I do, Gibbs? Tell me.”

 _“Did you have plans, Abby?”_ Gibbs was wide-awake, already looking for his clothes to start dressing to return home.

“Yes, Gibbs. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. We were supposed to go to the movies, but then Tony texted me saying something came up, that I must come to your home, and that he’d meet me here, but he’s not here, Gibbs and I don’t know where he is. Should I call McGee? Gibbs, where is he, where is Tony? He knows he’s never supposed to be unreachable, you know he’d never do something like this. I’m worried. You need to get here, please, Bossman, something is hinky.”

By the time Abby had finished talking, Gibbs was dressed and his bag packed. _“I’ll be there in two hours, Abby. Get McGee, go to the office and get a trace on him.”_ He ended the call and knocked on the door to SECNAV’s room. He had to knock again before the door opened and he explained in short what was going on. He didn’t wait for a reply or to be excused, just lifted his bag over his shoulder and ran down the stairs. He knew the team he left with Davenport was more than capable of doing their job. He now knew that his turning gut had nothing to do with the SECNAV’s safety, but about Tony. He had a missing agent, friend and lover to find. 

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Tony became aware of his surroundings when someone called his name and a hard slap connected to his face. He managed to open his eyes and groaned as the harsh light assaulted his eyes. He smacked his lips together; it felt as if something died in his mouth. He tried to swallow to get rid of the taste, but his mouth was dry. He tried to think back to what he had to drink that would leave such an after taste, but then the memories returned and he jerked hard as he realized that he was standing with his arms stretched out above him, bound by rope and chains. He looked down at his legs and found that he was only dressed in his boxers and his feet shackled to the floor.

“It was a trap. There was no backup.” His voice sounded gruff and he couldn’t believe that he’d been played for a fool. Gibbs would slap him silly for making such a rudimentary mistake. He now realized what bothered him before. Even though, the NCIS didn’t chase after people like the alleged diamond smuggler, if Saunders was such a large fish, they would’ve heard about him. There was nothing. There was no blood diamond smuggler. Shepard made a fool out of him. It was a set up right from the beginning.

The man he knew as Gregory Saunders barked out a laugh. “A bit late to notice that, don’t you think, Agent DiNozzo? But then on the other hand, she did say you were not too bright.” He grinned as he moved into Tony's sight. Any prior signs of being tipsy were gone. In front of him stood a man full of confidence.

Tony grinned as he fell back into character of one of his many personas. He knew he had to act carefree and get the man to talk. Abby would start looking for him when he didn’t show up at the house; she would phone Gibbs and together the two of them would start looking for him. He could only hope that Gibbs would not decide to involve _the beloved_ Jenny Shepard. “So, what now?”

“Now, now it’s my pleasure to kill you.” Saunders shrugged his shoulders. “It is what I’m paid for, you know?”

“You’ve been a killer for long? I mean, you put such a great act together there in the hotel, I really wouldn’t have pegged you as a _gun for hire _.” Tony smirked as he attempted to relax, wanting to put the other man at ease.__

Saunders smirked. “The boss was right; you've got a mouth on you.” He walked right up to Tony and slammed his fist into Tony's solar plexus, robbing him of the chance to breathe. He grinned as Tony gasped for air. “I was also told your lungs are not what they used to be.” He turned around and walked away as Tony kept on trying to get much needed air into his body.

The black spots in front of his eyes threatened to rob him of his sight and he had to do everything in his power not to let the darkness take over. He had to keep on taking shallow breaths until he could breathe deeper and finally the spots disappeared. “Why don’t you call your employer by her name? Or is it difficult for you to pronounce Jenny Shepard?”

“Oh, I’m never on a first or last name basis with my employer. It’s never good for business.” The man grinned again and cocked his head. “It’s sad, you know. I really started to like you, but the boss said you needed to die, so that’s it.” He turned away and started to rummage through a heavy looking duffle bag. “I’m excited about this one.” He looked over at Tony. “She gave me carte blanche with you, and I really can’t remember the last time she’s done that.” He frowned, mumbled something and then returned to fumble through the bag.

Tony knew he was supposed to feel terrified, at least scared, but a blanket of calm set over him and even though there was a great possibility that he was going to die here, he remained focused. “You’ve been working for her long then?”

“Mm, a few years.” Saunders shrugged. “She’s a good employer.” He grinned. “The pay is not the only thing that makes it worthwhile. She sends me around the globe. I love travelling.” He turned and faced Tony. “I love trying out different methods and I found the perfect way for you to die. You’re going to love it. I have to admit shooting someone and then dumping the body gets boring. Or making as if it was a suicide; want to pull my hair out with those.”

“Oh, do share,” Tony smiled himself. He had to keep the man talking.

Saunders shook his head. “No, no. Not going to spoil the fun. First, I have to torture you a bit. I mean, since I get to do with you whatever I want, why not? I do have to warn you, however, my torture techniques, they are a bit rusty - sorry.” He placed a rolled up piece of thick leather next to Tony on a lopsided table, which he then rolled open. He clapped his hands in excitement. “Always love the way they shine, aren’t it beautiful?” He picked up a scalpel and held it up high. Saunders cocked his head. “I do wish I had a proper table to work on. With you strung up like this, makes it difficult for me to practice.” He shrugged his shoulders again. “Everything can’t always be perfect.”

When he brought the scalpel closer to Tony, Tony started to squirm, not that he had much leeway and not the way he was stretched out and chained to the floor and rafters. “Maybe you should get something else to practice on first, what do you say?” He swallowed hard. He wanted to make a movie reference, but his mind was blank. He couldn’t think of any movie that could be relevant to his current situation.

“No need, I know I complain, but this will work out perfectly.” Saunders placed the sharp instrument against Tony’s chest, but then stepped back. “Before I forget, you can scream as loud as you like. No one will hear.” He bent forward again and licked at his bottom lip as he took a firm grip on the scalpel and gently pressed it into Tony’s skin. “This is going to be fun.” He grinned and started cutting into Tony’s chest.

Tony held his breath, locked his jaws and tried not to make a sound as the blade sliced into him. The blade was sharp enough for Tony not to feel any pain as the first cut was made. Only as the blood came to the surface did the burning sensation start. He tried not to hiss, but his brain finally acknowledged the pain and he could feel his own resolve failing. Tony knew he had to do anything not to show the pain. As the scalpel was removed from his skin, he started to laugh. “You do know that when you torture someone you’re supposed to hurt them, right? If this is all that you can come up with, then I must tell you, I’m not impressed.” Tony managed to roll his eyes and cocked his head. “What else do you have in store for me, or is this it?”

“You insolent, prick.” Saunders backhanded him hard and Tony spat the blood that gathered in his mouth. “You think you’re so special. I have news for you, you’re nothing. You will scream. You will plead for your life. I will have your tears as you beg to end it all; to release you to your maker.” He took a deep breath. “Now where was I?” He snickered as he circled Tony before coming to a halt behind him. “You’ve got amazing shoulders. It’s a shame that they’re not marked.” Saunders traced the muscles with his fingers. “Beautiful.” He placed the bloodied instrument against Tony’s shoulder blade. “Always wanted to see how the muscles work if there's no skin to cover it.” He pulled back on Tony’s hair. “And since I’ve got enough time, I think I’ll do just that.” He let go of Tony’s hair and proceeded to lick the blade clean. “You taste wonderful.” He leaned up against Tony’s back and pressed the blade for a second time against Tony’s skin. “Always wanted to do this,” he muttered under his breath.

Tony wanted to gag as the crazy man licked his blood from the scalpel. But he had more important things to worry about than to lose his lunch, or was it breakfast? He wasn’t quite sure when last ate. He knew he’d be able to keep on talking, to distract the delusional man, but he knew that there would be a greater possibility of him bleeding to death if he decided to drag it out for too long. Not that Saunders thought that to be a possibility. Tony wondered how long he was willing to _play_ with him before he decided it was finally time to kill him. As the blade sliced into him, Tony bit down hard on his tongue, making sure once again not to give Saunders the pleasure to hear him react in pain. This time the slicing action went on longer. It started at the top of his shoulder and moved down his side. He started to tremble and Tony thought he heard Saunders snickering at his back.

“I know you want to scream, Tony. Don’t let me stop you. I enjoy hearing my marks scream. Most of my jobs are so impersonal. I love it when I can get up close and personal with the people I work with. It makes me appreciate life so much more.” Saunders pulled the blade away and looked at the thin line he cut from the top of Tony’s shoulder blade to just underneath the first rib. The blood was flowing freely and he looked around for something to wipe it clean. He picked up Tony’s discarded shirt and wiped at the line. It started to bleed immediately, but it gave him a glimpse of what he had done before the blood started to run down again. He circled around and stood in front of Tony. “You doing all right? Don’t you want to scream, get some of that pain out of your system?”

Tony shook his head. He wanted to scream, he wanted to yell and tell the son of a bitch to stop, but he couldn’t, he had to keep it together. Instead, he managed to take a deep breath. “Since we’re so up close and personal, what’s your real name, or may I call you Fuck face?”

Saunders snarled, but then burst out laughing. “You’re a real treat, Tony. She said I’d enjoy you. She’s never wrong.” He circled Tony again. “As for my name, you know it all ready.” He dragged his hand over Tony’s chest and flicked the tiny buds with his fingers. He smiled as they turned hard. “Mm, so responsive.” He looked around and a pure look of evil appeared on his face. “Since you don’t like my torturing techniques, let's try something different.” He walked over to the table again, picked up the large duffle bag and started placing stuff on the table. He giggled when he came across a small case. “Just what I was looking for.” He held the case for Tony to see. “Something special, just for you.” Saunders unzipped the case and gleamed as he took out two perfectly decorated fly fishing hooks. “I love fly fishing, but never get a chance to go.” He held out the twin hooks for Tony to see. “Aren’t they beautiful? Made them myself.”

Tony had an idea what Saunders wanted to do with the hooks, but he couldn’t allow it to happen. “So, are you planning on letting me hanging here, while you go off fishing? Nice time of the year for fly fishing, or so I’ve heard.”

“You're really a funny guy, Tony.” Saunders shook his head. “I can only go when I'm done here, and by the look of things, it’s going to take a while.” He placed the hooks down and turned his attention back to Tony’s chest. He smiled as the blood continued to drip to the concrete floor from the large incision he made to Tony’s shoulder. “You’re making me lose sight of what I was doing, Tony. But, I don't mind. Not today.” He used both his hands to flick over Tony’s nipples, rubbing them between his index fingers and thumbs. “You’re going to look stunning. The red of your blood will look wonderful with the bright yellow feathers of the hook.”

Tony squirmed. “Don’t do that.” He snarled. He couldn’t stand the way in which the maniac was touching him.

“Don’t worry. It doesn’t get me hard, but it will, once I’ve hooked these through.” Saunders laughed. “Now, hold still.” He snickered again as he took one of the hooks and pulled Tony's nipple towards him, letting the piece of flesh stretch.

Tony hissed and tried to move away, but found that it was impossible to do.

Saunders didn’t mind. He grinned as he held the hook up for Tony to see. “This won’t hurt - not much.” He pushed the point of the hook through the flesh, continued to push it until it reached the barbed point. “Through this one,” he muttered to himself as he pushed the hook through until the two barbs came out of the other side. He threaded the hook through so that the bent side of the hook was on the underside of the bleeding nipple and the shank side with the decorated fly on the top side. “Perfect.”

“FUCK!” Tony screamed. He wanted to keep quiet, but the moment the point of the hook pierced his sensitive skin, it felt as if his chest was on fire. When the double barbed part was pushed through, he continued to scream. He’d been shot many times, none of them hurt as much as this. He was still struggling to find his breath when Saunders was back in front of him with the second hook. “NO! I’ll fucking kill you!” Tony yelled at the man, but couldn’t do anything more than that. He had to close his eyes as the man once again took hold of his nipple and pushed the pointy side of the hook through. His entire body trembled as the pain pulsated through him. He didn’t want to look down, but he had to see what had been done to him and Tony found himself staring at the two fishhooks that now decorated his chest.

“See, I told you it would look stunning.” Saunders laughed and flicked the bloody nipples with his fingers. “Don’t worry. I’ll remove them, just before I kill you. I still have to use them for fishing, you know.” He turned to the table and then sighed at the sight of the blood on his hands. “Don’t want the scalpel to slip, now do we?” He dragged his hands over Tony’s body, leaving streaks of blood behind. “Better.” He looked at his tainted hands. “Now, where were we?” Saunders didn’t even look at Tony as he picked up the scalpel and moved in behind the suspended man again. “Let’s see what your muscles look like...”

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Director Jenny Shepard moved away from the shadows as another scream filled the air. She knew that the trick with the fishhooks was for her benefit. Saunders had seen her coming into the empty warehouse, standing out of sight of the man suspended from the rafters. She had smiled and looked on as he pierced DiNozzo skin. She had shivered at the thought of the pain inflicted and for a moment, she wished she could’ve done that. She smirked as she made her way back to her car before heading to the hotel where the meet was to take place. She had to get rid of the car Tony had used and then she would head home and wait for Gibbs to phone her and frantically explain that Tony was missing. There would be a search for him, she would spare no cost to try to find him, but she knew Tony DiNozzo’s body would never be found. Saunders had never let her down before.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Gibbs wanted nothing more than to shoot something - anything. He had been back in DC for three hours and still there was no sign of DiNozzo. He looked at the rest of the team. Abby was leaning heavily against McGee, both of them staring bleary eyed at McGee's computer screen. They couldn’t get a trace on Tony's phone. The service kept on saying that there was no network signal. They knew he left the yard through the front entrance, but had no idea what vehicle he’d left, as there was a major problem with the surveillance cameras and according to the information they received the problem had started two days earlier. The technicians were still trying to determine the fault. Gibbs looked over to where Ducky was standing at the window looking out at the night sky that was quickly fading away and turning into another day. He knew the ME was just as worried as he was.

“Anything, McGee?” Gibbs snapped.

“Nothing, Sir, I mean.., Boss.” McGee stumbled over his words.

“How can there be nothing, McGee? You’re the computer expert, how can you not find anything?” He snarled as he closed the distance between himself and the young probationary agent.

“Jethro,” Ducky’s voice sounded up next to him. “Young Timothy is doing his best, you know that. Don’t you think it's time to let the Director know what’s going on?”

Gibbs turned to snarl at his friend, but then sighed. “You’re right, I need to do that.” He took out his phone and looked at it as if it was something unfamiliar in his hand.

“Do you want me to do that?” Ducky asked concerned.

Gibbs shook his head. “No, I will.” He scrolled down, found the number, pressed the button and held the phone to his ear. He frowned as a mechanical voice told him that the number was out of the network range. He tried again and when it happened for the second time, he threw the phone hard to the floor. “Hate this crap.” He turned to face Abby and McGee. “Find her and find Tony!” He yelled and stormed off.

Ducky sighed and shook his head. He looked at Abby’s tear streaked face and McGee’s lost expression. “We’ll find him, don’t worry.” He left the two young ones in the bullpen and walked out after his friend.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Tony whimpered as a bucket of cold water splashed over him. He shivered at the cold and moaned as he opened his eyes. He frowned as he struggled to remember where he was, but then the pain in his shoulders reminded him just what he went through and he remembered what had happened. Tony had no idea how many hours had passed. By what he could see it appeared to be getting light outside.

“You rang?” He flinched at the sound of his own voice. It was a mere whisper and raspy.

Saunders grinned. “Glad to see you still have that humor of yours, Tony.” He sauntered around Tony again. “I have to say, I was impressed. You held out a lot longer than I thought you would.” He snickered, “and a lot longer than my employer thought you might.” He walked over to a pulley system to the side and started cranking at the handle, lowering the chains that held Tony’s arms above his head. “Unfortunately, our time here has come to an end, but don’t worry, I did promise you a wonderful and unique death, and that you will get.”

Tony groaned as the chains lengthened and his arms sagged to his sides. He immediately fell to the floor as his legs refused to keep him upright now that he was no longer chained upright. He wanted to yell, to scream out as the wounds in his shoulders flared up in searing pain. He could feel the fresh blood running down his back and the sides of his torso. His nipples no longer throbbed, but the two fishhooks still decorated his chest. He tried to move, but the shackles on his legs made it nearly impossible. He did manage to turn so that he sat flat on the floor and no longer kneeling as he fell down. His legs were asleep, but he could feel a tingling sensation in his feet and knew that in a few moments his legs would regain their feeling and it would bring another level of pain for him to cope with.

Saunders moved to Tony’s back, grabbed him by his hair and yanked his head back. “Now for the fun part - your death.” He cuffed Tony’s hands in front of him and then placed an extra pair of shackles on his feet before he released him from the shackles that were attached to the concrete floor. “Don’t even think of running, you won’t get far.” He pulled Tony up by his arms and dragged him across the warehouse to where a non-descript van was parked. He opened up the back and threw Tony inside before getting in himself and with a padlock chained Tony’s feet to the floor of the vehicle. He reached over and grinned as Tony began to struggle. “What? Don't you like it? I think it goes perfectly with your eye color.” He sneered as he grabbed hold of Tony's jaw, with precision pushed the emerald colored ball gag in Tony’s mouth and buckled it up at the back of Tony’s head. He got out, but left the doors ajar and gathered everything he had used and placed it in the back as well. He turned to close the door, but then spotted Tony’s discarded clothes, walked over to pick them up and flung them into the back as well. “Enjoy the ride; it will be the last one you’ll ever take.” He laughed out loud as he slammed the windowless doors closed.

Tony tried not to retch behind the gag stuffed in his mouth. He forced himself to take some deep breaths through his nose in an attempt to get himself to calm down. He could feel his body shutting down because of the volume of blood he had lost. He was officially running on empty. Even the adrenaline that he had in his system was not sufficient to keep him going. He looked around at the items Saunders had placed in the back. He had to be careful; he had no idea if the maniac could see him from the front. Tony tried to turn his body in an attempt to move closer to his clothes. His belt contained a knife and if he could get to that, maybe he could find a way of getting out of this mess. When he moved, he held his breath and sighed as the van didn’t slow down or he wasn’t yelled at for moving. It was a struggle, but he finally managed to drag his trousers closer. His hands trembled as he got hold of the belt and extracted the small knife. He wouldn’t be able to slaughter a cow with it, but would still be able to cause some damage if he could manage to jam it into an artery. Tony looked around; he was still half-naked and had no place to hide the knife so he’d have to sit on it so that Saunders wouldn’t see it. He knew he’d only have one chance at this.

Tony grunted out in pain as the van hit a pothole and he was thrown to the side. He tried to stop himself from face planting into the floor of the van when he tumbled over and landed with his wounded shoulder on the floor of the van. He gasped in pain and could feel himself slipping into the realms of darkness, but Tony knew he had to stay conscious. With everything he had in him, he managed to get himself upright and then saw something sticking out of his trouser pocket. Tony wanted to slap himself on the back of his head. It was the burner phone. It looked like Saunders made no effort to look through his clothing having missed the knife and the phone. Tony shook with effort, but managed to get hold of the phone. He groaned when he saw how low the battery level was. First, he made sure that the phone was on silent; he couldn’t afford Saunders to realize he had a phone, even if there was only a slim possibility of someone phoning him, it was not as if anyone had the number and he didn't think that the director would call him. He had no idea how long it would take them to arrive at their destination, so he had to make this count. He wanted nothing more than to phone Gibbs and tell him how much he loved him, but he knew that by now Gibbs wouldn’t have the patience to deal with any calls where no one spoke. He knew the agent would just end the call and in all likelihood toss the phone away because someone was wasting his time. He had to phone Abby, it was his only chance.

Tony’s hands trembled as he keyed in Abby’s number and prayed that she would answer the call and would realize that it was him. He had only placed the phone to his ear when the van came to an abrupt halt that made Tony lose his balance and the phone slipped out of his hand. He yelled out in frustration behind the gag, as the phone skidded away and landed in the corner of the van. There was no way he would be able to get to it. What bothered him more was the fact that if Saunders opened the door, he would spot the phone and that would end any chance Tony had of being rescued. Tony knew he had to make sure that Saunders attention stayed on him. When the engine stilled and the driver’s door opened Tony got ready. The moment the back door opened up, he went on the attack.

Saunders stumbled back as Tony slammed his body into his. “Fucking idiot!” He grunted as he had to grab onto the door in an attempt to keep to his feet. “Should’ve hogtied you,” he shouted as he stepped closer to the van and landed a solid punch to Tony’s face. He had to fight Tony hard as the man used everything he had in him to fight him off. He was thankful that he had shackled Tony’s feet to the floor, at least that kept the fighting man off balance. Saunders landed another blow and grinned as Tony’s head slammed hard into the side of the van and rendered him unconscious.

“Stupid fuck,” Saunders muttered as he climbed over the prone body and unchained his feet. He kicked Tony brutally in the ribs as his gaze landed on the small knife. He got out and continued to drag Tony out by his arms. He let the body fall to the ground and then slammed the doors shut. He did not notice the blinking phone in the darkened corner of the van as he dragged Tony to an abandoned structure in the middle of nowhere.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Jenny parked her car in a designated parking area on the side of the street and made her way over to a parking facility that catered mostly for long-term parking, but also catered for visitors to the various hotels in the vicinity. She had planned everything in detail, including picking the perfect hotel, knowing that DiNozzo would park the car where it wouldn’t be seen while he was undercover. She strolled in with confidence and made her way through the rows of cars. She had the duplicate set of keys in her possession and every few feet would press the button to see if she could locate the car. She smiled as the alarm chime sounded up and she approached the dark colored sedan, opened the door and got in. She drove out of the parking garage and made her way out of the city.

She kept on driving for more than an hour, not in a hurry - she would arrange to be picked up after she got rid of the car. She smiled as she reached the deserted filling station in the middle of nowhere. At one time this place buzzed with activity but with the freeway built east of this route, the local diner across the street and the station went bankrupt. She parked the car in the back and strolled over to the small office where she pulled out two containers of highly flammable liquid and an empty container she had stashed there a week ago. She couldn’t wait to see the car go up in flames. For her, it symbolized Tony DiNozzo’s demise. She had never met the man before she took over as director of NCIS two months ago, although she did hear quite a bit about him. Most people thought of him as immature and childish, but those that had the opportunity to work with him thought differently and so did Jethro.

Sheppard knew that Gibbs would never tolerate a fool on his team and for DiNozzo to be with Gibbs for almost four years told her that DiNozzo was anything but a fool. She had seen how Jethro had looked at him - once upon a time, Jethro looked at her in the same way and she couldn’t stand to see the only man she ever loved looking at someone else in that same way. Gibbs belonged to her and it was time she got him back. She had fought hard to get this position, not always fair and if a few people met an early demise for her to be appointed Director then so be it.

Before doing anything else, Shepard used a short piece of hose, emptied the gas tank into one of three containers and placed it well out of the way. She wanted the car burnt to a crisp, but she didn’t want it to explode. She then proceeded to wipe the interior of the car clean; although she had gloves on, she had to make sure that no fingerprints would ever be found. She doused the car’s interior with the liquid from the second container before picking up the last one and pouring it all over the outside of the vehicle. She made sure that every square inch of the car was covered with the liquid before she took the two containers, placed them with the first, and then struck one match that she flicked into the car and smiled as it landed on the seat, was swallowed in the liquid and flames erupted instantaneously. She struck a second match, this time flicking it onto the roof and looked on as it also erupted into flames. The liquid she used burned at an extremely high degree, but it burned long and although it would take at least three hours for the car to be destroyed, the chance of anyone coming out this way was very slim. She looked at her watch and smiled. If everything went to plan her henchman was about to take DiNozzo’s last breath from him. She took out her phone, smiled as she saw that she had a signal and called for one of her men to come and pick her up. She made sure to take the three containers with her and moved away from the burning wreck. She looked on as the sky turned lighter and knew it was going to be a good day.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Ducky poured a shot of bourbon into a glass and handed it to Gibbs. “We will find him, Jethro.”

Gibbs took the offered glass and took a deep swallow before he even considered answering. “I’m scared, Duck.” He looked down at his hands and noted that they trembled. “What if we don’t, what if we’re not in time? Hell, Ducky, we’ve got no idea what had happened to him or where he is.” He felt so powerless.

“What does that famous gut of yours say, Jethro?” Ducky took a sip of his own shot and leaned back in his chair.

“That he’s in trouble, but he’s still alive.” Gibbs looked up. “But I’ve got no idea how much time he has left, Ducky.”

“Our young Anthony will hold on for as long as what is needed, Jethro. You know that. You yourself have ordered him not to die. He will not disobey that order, you know that. You need to have faith. If not in your gut, then in Tony.”

Gibbs nodded his head. His oldest friend was right. He had to have faith. They would find Tony. He just had no idea when.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Abby cocked her head as Tim replaced the receiver after trying to get hold of the Director with no success. She took out her own phone and dialed McGee’s number. When the agent’s phone rang, she ended the call. There was nothing wrong with the network. “Something’s hinky, McGee.” She stood up and paced the floor. “How possible is it that both Tony’s phone number and the Director’s phone are out of the network range?”

“You think the director might be in trouble as well?” McGee gulped. He didn’t want to be the one to tell Gibbs that.

Abby looked at McGee. She knew she could trust him, but how far? Of that, she was still unsure. However, she also knew that Tony’s life might depend on it. “You know I can kill someone and leave no evidence behind?” She waited until Tim nodded his head. “Good. I think the Director might have something to do with Tony’s disappearance.”

“WHAT! Abby, are you crazy? Are you listening to yourself? We don’t even really know if something did happen to DiNozzo and now you want to incriminate Director Shepard?” McGee nearly squeaked.

“Yes, Tim, yes I do. And you’ll agree if you hear what I have to say.” Abby quickly explained what she thought and what she had seen.

McGee shook his head. “Abby, that’s nothing. You can’t prove any of this. What does Gibbs say about this?”

“Gibbs told Tony it was his imagination, but I’m telling you, Tim, she is involved.” Abby placed her hand on her stomach. “I can feel it in _my_ gut.”

Tim felt helpless. They had no other leads to go on. Both Abby and Gibbs went through Tony’s car with a fine toothed comb and couldn’t find anything that could have helped them. He could see how bothered Gibbs was with the fact that Tony left his car behind. Gibbs had also questioned Abby so many times about what Tony had told her, what he texted her, what he sounded like that the young, feisty girl broke down in tears and Ducky had told Gibbs that it was enough. The senior agent had snapped at the ME that it wasn’t enough, but he stopped questioning Abby. Tim sighed. “What do you want to do?”

Abby smiled. “I knew I could count on you. What do you know about signal jammers?”

“I know our government agencies use them, but they’re illegal for use by the general public. The devices transmit on the same frequencies as the cell phones, interrupting the communication between the tower and the phone.”

“And that would explain why we can’t get hold of either of them.” Abby paced again. “We also know that the Director loves her phone.” She turned and faced Tim.

“Are you saying she used one so that Tony can’t call for help?” Tim whispered the question. It just didn’t make sense.

“I don’t know, McGee. We need to find out. We can still see where she used her phone until the signal was lost and we can do the same with Tony’s phone.” The two looked at one another and then headed for Abby’s lab. It would be better for them to work from there.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

“I’ll do Tony’s phone,” Abby said as she took her position in front of the computer. Her fingers flew over the keys and then stopped. “I told you there was something hinky going on, McGee.” She showed him what she had found. “His last transmission was from here and then nothing and that’s just impossible. He couldn’t have disappeared into thin air.”

McGee found it strange as well, but concentrated on the screen in front of him, instead of commenting on what Abby had found. “Here we go.” He indicated to the screen as the info came up that they were looking for. “She left here at about seven,” he started to explain and entered certain commands into the computer to display all of the cell phone towers the Director passed. He looked at Abby as the forensic scientist watched over his shoulder. “She went home,” he indicated to the area in where Shepard’s home was located. From there she left and went east.”

“What’s there, McGee?” Abby asked. “Her phone only went off about two hours ago, Tim.”

McGee typed in the co-ordinates. “It’s in the warehouse district.” He frowned. “What would the Director be doing in the warehouse district at four in the morning?”

“More importantly, where would she go for her phone to lose its signal?” Abby called up the maps for the surrounding areas.

“This side, she’d be leaving the city.” Abby indicated to the map. “This and this are all residential areas and this side is towards downtown again. None of these places would make her cell lose its signal unless she came into range with whatever is blocking Tony’s cell.” Abby stated with confidence. She had already decided that a jammer was indeed blocking Tony’s cell.

“What if we called up the last two hours of video footage with her vehicle’s registration number as a search point?” McGee asked even as he started infiltrating the city's CCTV system. Previously it was impossible to track anyone using old footage as it was nowhere recorded and only available in ‘live time’. That had changed when the new budget was announced and now all CCTV imaging was available for up to seventy-two hours after the initial recording.

“Brilliant, McGee.” Abby hugged him tight. “I still want to know what she could’ve been doing in the warehouse district.” Abby typed away on her computer and started collecting information on the types of warehouses in the area and details of the owners. She also made sure to check if NCIS or any of the other alphabet agencies had any undercover operations in the area.

“Found her, or should I say I found her car.” McGee exclaimed as the first piece of footage became available, showing the Director’s car. He immediately started a backup copy of the material for future reference.

“Where?” Abby typed in the final command to her own computer before hopping over to where Tim was working. She looked on as Tim tracked the car’s movement. “Stop,” she indicated with her finger to the screen. “That’s her.” She pointed to a shot of the interior of the car where the camera had managed to capture a shot of the Director as she was driving. Abby noted the time and which camera picked her up. “This is after the warehouse district time?” She looked at the notes they made.

“Seems to be,” Tim nodded as he let the video material move forward again. He made double sure that the backup copy was being recorded on the hard drive. They looked on as she entered the downtown area and made her way through town until she came to a hotel. Tim noted the name of the hotel and Abby did a quick search.

“No reservation made in her name.” Abby said after she hacked into the hotel’s server. “No!” Abby yelled out in frustration as the Director climbed out of her car and walked out of reach of the camera. “Find her, Tim. We can’t lose her now!” Abby had a feeling that they had to stay on her trail if they wanted to find Tony.

“I’m trying, Abby.” Tim searched between the different cameras, looking for one where he could spot the Director. It seemed as if she had disappeared into thin air.

“No, no! It can’t be.” Abby shook her head. “We have to find her.” She looked through all of the material they had again, sighed and sat down. She sat for that for two minutes. “No one disappears into thin air.” Her fingers rested on the keyboard. “What if...” she didn’t explain further, but started typing fast and then grinned. “Bingo.” She showed McGee what she came up with. “This parking facility caters not only for long term car owners, but a lot of patrons visiting the hotels in the area also park here.” Abby smiled. “They also have a camera system and are one of the numerous businesses in the area that’s cooperating with the local LEO’s to combat crime. Therefore, their video footage is also available to us.” She didn’t hesitate to type in the time and date where they lost sight of Shepard and waited patiently for the footage to come up. Both team members watched the video until Tim spotted Shepard.

“There,” he indicated on the screen.

“See, I told you. No one vanishes into thin air.” Abby zoomed out and frowned as she read the car’s registration number. “That’s one of our cars.” She clicked and entered into another program. “According to this log that car is supposed to be in the garage.” She turned and faced Tim. “Go and look if it’s there.” She pushed him as he gaped at her. “Go, be quick. I’ll track her further.” Abby didn’t wait for a reply, but started following Shepard’s movements. She also then noted that the time they picked Shepard coming out of the parking garage was the same time they lost the signal on her phone. She smiled. She had a feeling that the GPS on the car would be turned off, but there was an additional unit built into the cars that couldn’t be switched off and since it was only installed about a month prior to Shepard starting there, she had a feeling she was not aware of this. A few key strokes confirmed her suspicion that the main GPS was indeed off, but in no time she had the coordinates of the vehicle through the second tracker unit and even without McGee telling her she knew the vehicle was not parked in the basement. In fact, it was well out of the city by the look of things.

Abby looked up as the door to her lab opened up a few minutes later and she opened her mouth to tell McGee that she knew where the car was when her phone started to chime. She picked it up without looking at the screen and frowned as she heard nothing but static on the other side. She shrugged her shoulders and was about to end the call when her eye caught the number. The agency’s entire burner phone set used in undercover operations started with the same set of sequenced numbers. She gasped and started to run a trace on the number. “McGee, help me!” She didn’t bother to explain, but let her fingers fly over the keys until McGee came to stand next to her.

“We got to trace that number, it’s Tony.”

Tim frowned. “How do you know that?” He asked even as he started to help with the trace.

“It’s one of our burner phones, Timmy.” Abby explained as she called up the map with the coordinates of the phone as the trace was completed. “It’s in the middle of nowhere.” She ran the coordinates again to make double sure. She turned to face McGee when the one computer started to beep. “The Director’s phone is up again.” She started to run a trace and quickly established the coordinates. “It’s also in the middle of nowhere, but totally on the other side of the city.” Abby frowned. “I need to get hold of Gibbs. He needs to know this.” She picked up the phone on the desk and then stopped. “I also need to check the secondary GPS unit on that car,” she murmured to herself as she started a new search. Her gut was telling her that she wasn’t going to like what she was about to discover. As she activated the second GPS unit, she wanted to hold her breath in the hope that she might be wrong. She always looked for the good in people, but if her gut was correct, then there was nothing good in Jenny Shepard.

When the car’s coordinates came up the screen, she and McGee looked at one another.

“Gibbs is not going to like this.” McGee said and then nearly jumped out of his skin as a voice spoke up behind him.

“What am I not going to like, McGee?”

Abby turned and flung herself into Gibbs’ arms. “We found something and I need you to listen to what I have to say before you say anything. Understood?”

“What is it, Abs?” Gibbs sounded impatient.

“Promise me, Gibbs.” Abby was persistent.

“Damn it, Abby. I don’t have time for this, tell me.”

Abby looked over at McGee took a deep breath and started to tell Gibbs what they had found. She knew she was rambling, but had a feeling that Tony’s time was running out. “So you see, she’s involved and even though you’ve got a history with her and don’t want to believe it, we’ve got enough proof and we’ve got to do something. Surely your gut must tell you we’re right about this, Gibbs.”

Gibbs looked at the forensic scientist. At first, he wanted to yell at her, but what she and McGee had come up with made him think, made him want to ask certain questions, made him want to demand answers. “Where’s the signal you’re getting from the burner phone now?” He turned to face the plasma screen.

“Way out of the city - rural Virginia; on a back road by the look of things.” Abby said as she quickly pulled up the coordinates again. “The Director is also with the car that’s supposed to be downstairs in the garage, but is not.”

“McGee, get me more information on that.” Gibbs pointed to the plasma screen. “Abby, get Balboa and his team to where that car is.” Gibbs turned to leave, but then stopped. “Have Balboa phone me when he reaches the Director.” He then stormed out of the lab. He knew he wouldn’t be able to go alone - he needed backup. He had no idea what Tony's position was or who even had him. As he stormed up the stairs, not even taking the elevator, he ran into Chris Pacci.

“I need your help, Chris.” Gibbs dragged the man by his arm as he made his way to the bullpen to grab his weapon and ‘go bag’. He came to a halt as he grabbed the bag. “If we’re wrong, it could end your career.”

Pacci didn’t even hesitate, or ask any questions; instead, he grabbed his own bag across the bullpen and followed Gibbs to the elevator. “What’s wrong?” He finally asked as they descended to the parking garage.

“Someone’s got Tony,” Gibbs nearly barked the answer as he jogged to his car.

“Then let’s go and get him back.” Chris jumped into the passenger seat, silently saying a prayer that he hadn’t eaten anything yet. He knew he wouldn’t have been able to stomach Gibbs’ driving, especially not with the way the man was now.

Gibbs grunted something like sounded like a thank you, but Chris left it there, instead he concentrated on the road, even though he wasn’t driving. “What happened? Who’s got Tony? Why do you say this could end our careers?”

Gibbs sighed and for a moment, his eyes left the road to look at the man sitting next to him. “I’m not sure, but it seems like Director Shepard might have something to do with it.”

Pacci frowned. “She really does hate him.” He murmured, and then shook his head as Gibbs continued to stare at him. “Eyes on the road.”

“I know how to drive,” Gibbs snapped and then sighed. “What did you mean by what you said?” He hated the feeling that it seemed like he missed something huge. Gibbs couldn’t help but to feel that he’d dropped the ball on this one. It seemed like everyone knew that there was something hinky going on between Jenny and Tony, except him.

It was Chris' turn to look at the man next to him. “You telling me, you’ve not seen the way the Director looks at DiNozzo?”

Gibbs wanted to growl, even scream, but it was clear he’d missed something important. “Seems like it.” He continued to weave in and out through traffic. When his phone started to ring he pressed it into his passenger’s hands. “That would be Abby.”

Pacci nodded his head and answered the phone. He was not surprised to hear the near frantic scientist on the other side of the line. Chris was amazed that he managed to keep the conversation short as he relayed the information Abby had for Gibbs. She had managed to pull satellite photos of the place where the signal came from. It looked like an abandoned farm. Only two structures appeared on the photos. What was of greater importance was the fact that McGee had managed to hack into a satellite facility and managed to turn a satellite, getting them images only an hour old. It showed a vehicle parked near one of the structures - in the same place from where the phone’s position came.

“Do you want me to call the local police?” Pacci asked as he held on to the sissy bar.

At first, Gibbs shook his head, but then answered. “Let them hold position. No one is to engage until we get there.” He looked down at the speedometer and then pressed the gas down harder. The car soared forward as his knuckles turned white around the steering wheel. It still felt to him as if they were traveling at a snail’s pace.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Tony groaned as he drifted back to awareness. He had a headache from hell and was lying on the ground. From the smell, it seemed like he was in some sort of a barn. Tony looked around, but could hardly make things out around him. He could hear Saunders somewhere to the side of him and he took the chance to see if he could move. He moaned as he found that he was tied up. It appeared he was out of it longer than he thought. He heard Saunders coming in his direction and he closed his eyes. He didn’t want the other man to know that he had regained consciousness. A vicious kick to his side made him gasp for air and his eyes snapped open.

“Sorry, did I wake you up?” Saunders sneered as he leaned forward and grabbed hold of Tony’s hair, pulling hard so that Tony had to move unless he wanted the other man to rip his hair out of his scalp.

Tony grunted as he fell forward, nearly landing with his face in the ground. He screamed in pain as Saunders started to drag him across the floor. The man moved too fast for Tony to get to his feet. Things were more difficult because Tony’s hands were tied. It didn’t matter that they were tied in front of his body. He could feel blood running down the side of his face and down his back. His shoulders caused him agonizing pain and it troubled him that he didn’t have much feeling in his right arm. His hand felt dead as well.

Saunders came to an abrupt halt and flung Tony to the side. He grinned as Tony yelped out in pain. He turned away from the man and raised his hands in the air. “So what do you think?”

He turned back to face Tony. “Took me a while to get one of these, but it was finally delivered last week.” He snorted. "Some people are so gullible. To think they believed me when I told them I was opening a crematorium here - in the middle of nowhere.” He turned to face Tony. “Meet your destiny.” He stepped closer to a large steel chamber and ran his hand along the side. “Do you know what this is?”

He didn’t give Tony the chance to answer or even cared if Tony knew the answer. Instead, he just talked on. “It’s called a Resomator and it disposes of human remains - in your case - it will dispose of you - all of you; nothing will be left.” He laughed. “I’m so excited; I can’t wait to see how this works.” Saunders shrugged. “I mean, I’ve seen videos on how it works. I’ve been at some crematoriums that use this as a method in disposing bodies, but to be able to do it myself. That’s just amazing.”

He stepped over to the side and brought a bag with him. Saunders placed it next to Tony. “Normally the person placed in here is already dead, but since I wanted you to experience everything I’m not going to kill you. Once again, you’re more than welcome to yell and scream. I want to hear what you feel, up and to your final moment.” He laughed again as he dragged Tony over to the bag and started to shove him in it.

Tony had no idea what the steel chamber was for or the bag that Saunders placed next to him, but he knew he had to get away. As the other man started to drag him to the bag, Tony started to struggle. He managed to slam his body into Saunders’ making the other man lose his footing and land hard onto the floor. It seemed like Saunders was dazed for a second and Tony knew it was his only chance. He struggled to his feet and launched himself on the other man again. The fact that his hands were tied in front made it easier and he lashed out, clipping the assassin on the jaw as he swung out with his hands. The other man shuffled backwards, still trying to get to his feet and Tony grabbed hold of Saunders’ shirt as the man shuffled himself into a corner. With strength he got from the adrenaline pumping through him, Tony pulled the stunned man to his feet and in a move Gibbs would’ve been proud of, Tony turned the man and slammed him face first into the wall. He heard the pleasant sound of cartilage breaking and knew he’d managed to shatter Saunders’ nose. He didn’t stop as Saunders screamed out in pain, instead he pulled the man back and slammed him into the wall again. He did it for a third time and when the man’s legs gave way, Tony let go of him, staggering back himself. He had nothing left in him, but knew he couldn’t take a chance on letting Saunders regain consciousness and take him down again. He looked around, but saw nothing to use to tie the other man up. Then his eyes landed on the bag Saunders wanted to stuff him in. He stumbled over to where it was still on the ground and dragged it over to where Saunders was. Tony would’ve given anything to have his hands free, but as he saw nothing to help, he decided to first secure his torturer and then find a way to free himself. He stuffed the man in the bag, zipped it up with the special ties attached to the bag and shoved it into the corner and then his knees gave way and he fell hard to the floor. Tony knew he had to get up, he had to get help, but his body screamed out in pain and he only wanted a moment for himself before he went out to the van and phoned for help. As his eyes grew heavy he shook his head, but it didn’t help and as he tumbled forward, he could’ve sworn he heard someone calling out his name, but he didn’t have the strength to answer or to look at who it was; instead he finally closed his eyes and let his body sag. He was just too tired.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**45 Minutes earlier**

Jenny cursed under her breath as not one, but two official Dodge Stratus NCIS vehicles stopped next to her. The fact that it wasn’t her own team made her curse more. She knew she had to come up with a believable story and fast. She couldn’t believe that her own team had not yet arrived. She could make out Balboa in the driver’s seat of the first car. It looked like he was on the phone. Her head spun as she tried to think of a reason to be here in the middle of nowhere, but more importantly, to explain the still burning vehicle at the back of the abandoned gas station. She steeled herself as Balboa and his team got out of their car, as well as another four agents out of the second car. She was about to speak when Balboa spoke up first.

“You all right, Director?” His voice laced with concern. The agent closed the distance between the two and came to a halt in front of her. “Are you hurt?” He looked her over again. “Agent Gibbs told us to find you. It seems like someone has kidnapped Agent DiNozzo and since he couldn’t get hold of you on the phone, he thought you might be in trouble. Glad to see you're all right.” Only then did he look over at the billowing smoke coming up from behind them. “What?” He asked as he tried to step closer.

Jenny shook her head. “I’m fine, thank you, Agent Balboa.” She looked over her shoulder. “No need to worry about that. It’s been taken care of.” She made sure her voice held authority while she trembled from within. “But tell me, what’s this of Agent DiNozzo? Do we know who took him - where he is?”

Balboa shook his head. “Still no word on him, Director. I know Gibbs has his whole team looking for Tony. They will find him.” He took the Director’s arm. “Let’s get you to safety.”

“It’s not necessary; my team is on their way.” Shepard tried to pull away.

“Sorry, Director. I have to insist. Until we’ve eliminated any possible threat, we can’t be sure about your safety. It’s better for you to come with us. We’ll let your team know to meet us at the safe house.” Balboa was firm as he steered her into the back of the car. Only when he was sure she couldn’t see him, did he frown. He didn’t get a chance to look at what was burning, but he had a feeling it was Tony’s car. He indicated to the second team to call it in. He wasn’t about to take the Director’s word that it has been taken care of. If he didn’t know Gibbs, he would’ve not believed what he was told. It was still hard to comprehend that Tony was kidnapped and that their Director might be behind it all. His frown turned into a smile. He trusted the senior agent, and he couldn’t wait for Gibbs to interrogate her and to hear how she planned to get out of this one. First, he would do as Gibbs instructed and take her to a safe house. It would keep her from getting in the way of their investigation and it would hinder her to try anything else.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

**Present time: Abandoned barn**

Gibbs looked on as Tony crashed to the floor. Even before the rest of the barn was checked out, he was next to his fallen agent’s side. “Tony,” he nearly whispered the word and his hand shook while he felt for a pulse. He had to feel again before he recognized the fluttery movement beneath his fingers for what it was. Tony was alive. “Hang in there, Tony.” He dragged his hand through the unconscious man’s hair as he took in the sight. “Get the EMTs in here!” Gibbs yelled.

Gibbs couldn’t help but shiver when he noticed the blood spilling from various cuts across Tony’s chest and the two evil looking hooks that pierced through his nipples. He could feel the rage building up inside of him at the thought of what Tony went through. What bothered him was the damage he could see on Tony’s shoulders. He had no idea what had caused it, but by the look at things, it looked excruciating. It bothered him that even beneath the blood he could see it was puffy looking and inflamed - a sure sign that it was already infected. He turned as Chris came up to him. “Get your team to handle this scene. Make sure not a word of this gets out.” He didn't bother to say anything else. He knew Pacci would do what he asked.

Pacci nodded his head. “EMTs are on their way, two minutes out. The locals have cleared the rest of this place. No one else is here.” He placed his hand on Gibbs’ shoulder after he had shrugged off his NCIS jacket and draped it over Tony’s body. “He’ll be all right.”

Gibbs didn’t reply. He couldn’t take his eyes off Tony's prone body, but could only look on as Tony’s chest continued to rise and fall. “Tony,” he tried to get Tony to wake up again, but received no response. “Come on, DiNozzo, open your eyes. I need to know you’re all right. I need to know who did this to you.” He squeezed Tony’s hand hard and then growled as someone kneeled next to him and tried to shove him out of the way. “Back off,” he snapped, but then saw the EMT next to him and he moved slightly out of the way still didn’t let go of Tony’s hand.

Something in his posture must’ve made the EMTs realize that it wouldn't be a good idea to try to get him to move away and they let him stay where he was while they assessed Tony's condition. He saw one EMT grimace at the sight of the fly fishhooks that decorated Tony's chest. He felt the same way. He frowned as the EMT placed the stethoscope back on Tony's chest and saw him frown. “What’s wrong?”

The EMT shook his head and made eye contact with his partner. “We need to get him loaded. His breathing is getting labored. His lungs already sound bad.”

“He had the pneumonic plague two years back.” Gibbs answered and on any other day might have cracked a smile as he saw the look on the EMT’s face. “His doctor is Doctor Brad Pitt over at Bethesda Hospital.”

The medic nodded his head and helped his partner to get Tony onto a backboard and then onto the gurney. As they wheeled him off, Gibbs sprinted after them. He was not leaving Tony’s side for one second. He got in just after they settled Tony in and took a seat out of the paramedic’s way, but still was able to hold Tony’s hand. He frowned at how cold it had become. “Why is he so cold?”

The medic adjusted the port in Tony’s arm first before he answered. “His body is going into shock. That’s one of the reasons why we need to get out of here.” He moved and checked Tony’s breathing again and then sat down and started to make notes.

Gibbs kept his grip he had on Tony's hand not wanting to let go, wanting to make sure Tony knew he was there and not leaving him again. He looked up as the EMT bounced to his feet. He looked on in concern as the man once again listened to Tony's breathing and then barked at the driver to step on it. Even as the ambulance lurched forward, the man grabbed some items from the shelf above Tony’s head and Gibbs blanched when he realized what it was.

“He's not breathing,” the EMT explained as he prepared to intubate his patient.

Gibbs could do nothing more but look on in as the man inserted the tube with clear efficiency and started to compress the bag attached to the tube. They silently traversed the remaining distance to the hospital. The only sounds heard were the EMTs relaying information on Tony’s condition to the trauma unit. Gibbs frowned when he looked out of the back window and noticed that they were not at Bethesda Hospital. “Why here?”

“It’s the nearest trauma center. The trauma team will handle things here until they feel he’s stable enough to be transported to Bethesda. They will also let Doctor Pitt know of his condition.” EMT explained as he readied Tony to be lifted out from the ambulance.

Gibbs jumped from the vehicle the moment the back doors swung open and stepped to the side as the medical personnel swarmed around the gurney and the EMT fired information off on Tony’s condition. Most of it didn’t make sense and that which he understood, made him anxious. He followed closely behind the gurney and managed to slip through the trauma doors before anyone could stop him.

Doctor Cross noticed the man slip in behind them as they raced through the doors. He wanted to tell the man to leave, but then he saw the look on the man’s face and something inside of him told him to let him stay. He was surprised to find that the man didn’t try to get any closer, instead he stood to the side and let them do their work, but at the same time making sure he had a clear view of their patient the whole time.

Gibbs looked on as they started to assess Tony. It bothered him that they still had to compress air into his lungs and that by the sound of things Tony’s blood pressure started to fall and they had difficulties in stabilizing it.

The next moment everything went to hell. The doctor took out a penlight to check out Tony’s level of consciousness when Tony’s hand snaked up and with cunning accuracy wrapped around the doctor’s throat while at the same time he started to choke on the tube down his throat. Personnel scrambled in to attempt to get Tony to release the death grip he had on the doctor's throat and try to get him to calm down to remove the tube. Even as Gibbs moved forward, he knew they would not succeed in any of their actions. Tony was a trained agent and aware enough to think that he was still in danger. The fact that the people who tried to calm him down were unknown to him and that he had something stuck in his throat would not calm him down soon. Gibbs fought his way through the personnel and managed to step into line of Tony’s view. “Tony, calm down, they’re trying to help.” He growled as one of the nurses tried to pull him back and he was saved from biting off her head when the doctor shook his head and managed to croak out a _“leave him”_. Gibbs turned his attention back to Tony. Tony was clearly distraught; he kept on trying to breathe, not succeeding at all. The hand not clasped around the doctor’s throat tried without success to get the tube out of his mouth while he also tried to get up from the gurney. Gibbs moved again, this time standing right next to the doctor and placing his own hand over Tony’s hand. “Let go, Tony. You’re safe.” Tony’s gaze met his, but it was clear that he didn’t recognize the man before him as he continued to struggle. “DiNozzo, stand down.” Gibbs barked out the order and sighed as Tony immediately released the hold he had over the doctor making the doctor stumble backwards. Gibbs grabbed hold of Tony’s arms as he tried again to get rid of the offending object down his throat. “Calm down, it was helping you breathe. If you give the doctor the chance I would imagine he would remove it since you’re clearly breathing on your own.” Gibbs looked over his shoulder for confirmation and was glad that the doctor stepped forward to speak to Tony. He grimaced at the angry red mark that decorated the doctor’s throat.

Doctor Cross could only hope that Tony managed to leave him with a voice as he stepped up to the gurney and spoke up. He sounded gruff, but at least he still had a voice. “We’ll remove it immediately.” He indicated to the nurse that did the compressions to remove the tube, but the man who had managed to get his patient to calm down spoke up again.

“Think you should do it yourself, doc. Tony’s not keen on too many strangers right now and adding another one to the mix would not help.”

Cross could understand the reasoning and nodded his head in agreement. He stepped around the gurney and took his place behind Tony’s head. As he prepared to remove the bag and then the tube he explained what he was about to do and looked on in amazement as his patient remained calm during the whole process. He had a feeling it had more to do with the fact that the man kept on talking to him, making sure that he stayed calm, than him who explained what he was doing. When the tube was finally removed and a nasal cannula was placed under his nose Cross moved back to his side. “Better?” Tony didn't respond, but the man did.

“Much better.” Gibbs smiled and stroked Tony’s hair. “You’re going to be all right. I’m not leaving you alone, but I need to stand to the side so that the doctor can finish examining you.” Gibbs waited patiently for Tony to agree before he moved away. He took only two steps back and placed him slightly to the right of the doctor making sure Tony could still see him.

Cross didn’t hear any response from his patient, but when Gibbs moved away, it was clear that Tony had calmed down significantly for them to assess him further. Cross nodded his head to his team and they went back to work. They did all, however, make sure not to come between the line of sight that existed between their patient and the mysterious man. Cross sighed as he completed his assessment and ordered an OR for surgery. He wanted to remove those ghastly looking fishhooks from Tony’s chest and they had to do some serious surgery on the wounds that decorated his shoulders. He turned and called the man closer. “I think it's time for introductions. My name is Doctor Sebastian Cross and as you know, I’m the attending ER doctor in this case.”

Gibbs didn’t bother to extend his hand as the doctor’s hands were covered with Tony’s blood. “Supervisory Agent Gibbs.” He indicated with his head to Tony who had closed his eyes. “That's Special Agent Tony DiNozzo.” Gibbs placed his hand over Tony's again. “Is he in pain?”

Sebastian shook his head. “No, we’ve given him some of the good stuff. I didn’t want him to feel any pain on top of everything else.” He looked up at the various monitors before he addressed Gibbs again. “The information we received is that he was kidnapped?”

Gibbs nodded his head. “He’s my second in command - one of the best. He was taken last night.”

“Then I’m glad you found him, Agent Gibbs.” Doctor Cross looked up as one of his nurses returned. He knew it was time to go and prep for surgery. “I have to go and tend to Agent DiNozzo in surgery. The surgical waiting room is on the second floor. One of the nurses will show you where it is.”

“Tony, he prefers Tony.” Gibbs replied. He held up his arm as the doctor turned to walk away. “Please, take care of him. He's my life.”

Sebastian cocked his head. He had a feeling that the man never said please or thank you and that he never admitted his feelings, but it was clear he did love the man he was about to operate on. “I’ll do whatever I can for Tony. I’ll make sure you’re kept up to date with the progress.” He nodded his head at the nurse who stood waiting for him and followed her. It was time to go and save a man’s life.

Gibbs was dimly aware of following the nurse who guided him to the waiting room. He was running on empty and although he would’ve loved to have a strong cup of coffee, he wouldn’t risk it to go and find one. He had to stay put; he had to be there for Tony. That’s all that mattered now.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Abby ran into Ducky's embrace as they met in front of the hospital. “Any word?” She asked as she wiped the tears from her face. She looked over as Tim jogged to where they were standing.

“Ducky,” McGee greeted the older man and placed his arms around Abby’s shoulders as the young scientist flung herself at him.

“Abigail, Timothy.” Ducky greeted the two young members of Gibbs’ team. “Jethro did not tell me anything, except to say that Tony was still in surgery. Why don’t we go up and join him and I will see if I can get some information for us.” He started to walk towards the entrance and spotted the hospital's cafeteria to the side. “Timothy, I think Jethro would enjoy a cup of his favorite substance, and although I still condemn the number of cups he consumes a day, I will not say a word about this one. Please, get him something to eat as well.” He knew his friend well and was certain that Gibbs had nothing to eat since this whole ordeal had started.

Tim nodded in agreement and turned towards the cafeteria. He would make sure to get something for Ducky and Abby as well. They were all running on empty.

Abby followed Ducky into the hospital and the ride up in the elevator was done in silence. She spotted Gibbs first and made a run for him. He looked beyond tired, his shoulders slumped forward; dark rings underlined his eyes. “Bossman,” she hugged him hard. “Any word on Tony?”

“Abby,” Gibbs hugged her back and shook his head. “His surgeon said he would keep me up to date, but it’s been over an hour now, and I've received no news yet.” He was aware of his hands shaking as Abby guided him to the couch that decorated the waiting area. He wanted to push her back and to go and find information, but then Ducky spoke up.

“I will go and find out, Jethro.” Ducky immediately offered and turned on his heels to go. He didn't like the fact that no one came to tell Gibbs what was going on. He didn't want to think any negative thoughts, but the lack of news didn't sound good for Tony. As he turned the corner, he nearly collided with a petite nurse. “So sorry, my dear. I did not mean to run you over.”

“No harm done, Sir.” The nurse smiled softly. “If I may ask, you seem to be in a hurry, is there something I can help with?”

“Yes, please.” Ducky cleared his throat. “My name is Doctor Millard, and I was looking for information on a close friend of mine, Anthony DiNozzo. He’s in surgery.”

The nurse smiled. “Are you with Agent Gibbs? I was just on my way over to give him a report.”

“Brilliant,” Ducky smiled, placed his hand on her elbow and steered her back to where he came from. “Jethro was just starting to worry. Better not keep him waiting any longer.” They walked together and as they neared the waiting room, Gibbs looked up and spotted them in an instant. Ducky was not surprised to see the man nearly jogging over to them.

“What's going on, any news?” Gibbs asked quickly.

“Doctor Cross asked me to inform you that things are going well, and that Tony’s holding on. There was more damage done to his shoulders than Doctor Cross initially thought and he had called in an orthopedic surgeon to come and assist.”

“Is that all?” Gibbs barked the words out.

“Easy, Jethro. The young lady is only doing her job.” Ducky calmed his friend down. He turned and faced the young nurse. “Did he perhaps say how long the operation will last?”

“At least another three to four hours.” She looked at the group of friends. “I suggest you get something to eat, maybe stretch your legs. I will come and give you an update as soon as there’s more news.” She smiled at Gibbs, not intimidated by his gruff nature.

“Thank you, dear.” Ducky replied and then turned to face the other three members. “Jethro, I know you will not leave here, but I want you to get out of this room and get some fresh air. Only for ten minutes, I will not ask more of that from you. Take Abby with you.” He held up his hand as Gibbs wanted to object. “It is not up for debate, Jethro. Take the few moments for yourself. You can also check in with both agents Pacci and Balboa. Surely you want to stay on top of the investigation?” Ducky knew he had landed a low blow, but he needed to get his friend’s mind off from Tony’s condition and let him concentrate on bringing those down who did this to their friend.

Gibbs’ head snapped back as Ducky mentioned the other agents. He couldn’t believe that he’d managed to forget about the director and her possible involvement in Tony’s abduction. He had to make sure they didn’t drop the ball. Even as he stepped out into the hallway, he reached for his phone. “Chris, talk to me.” He responded as his fellow agent answered his phone.

Ducky indicated to McGee to follow his supervisor. “You better hurry up, Timothy. Jethro is sure to give you instructions to follow up.” He looked on as the young agent hurried after the other man. Ducky turned to Abby. “Come, my dear, let's go and join them. I assume Jethro will have work for you as well and you need to be prepared to leave here, however difficult it may be for you.”

Abby wanted to object, but she knew Ducky was correct. If they wanted the director to go down for what she had done to Tony, she’d have to go back and work. It would break her heart not to be here, but making sure that the chain of evidence was in order and that she had all the necessary evidence to convict that evil bitch was of great importance. Tony would understand. “Yes, Ducky.” She answered meekly as the two of them made their way out of waiting room to follow Gibbs and McGee to the outside. They found Gibbs pacing outside with McGee standing to the side. It was clear by the experienced agent’s body language that he was frustrated, even pissed off would be a better description.

Gibbs pushed his phone back in his pocket and growled as he turned. “McGee, go back to the office and make sure you close every possible avenue Shepard might have in getting off. Balboa still has her at the safe house, but I don’t think we’ll be able to keep her there for much longer; not until she becomes suspicious in any way. Take Abby with you.”

Abby wanted to object, but Ducky squeezed her shoulder and she nodded in agreement. She stepped up to Gibbs and gave him a hug. “Keep us up to date, Bossman.”

Gibbs kissed her on top of her head. “I will. Get going.” He gently pushed her away from him and as they made their way over to the car, he turned to go back into the hospital. “Had enough fresh air, Duck.”

Ducky nodded his head and followed his friend silently back into the hospital.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Jenny Shepard paced the bedroom she was in and couldn't help but to glance nervously at her phone. Her hands itched to make that call to find out if everything was all right, but she couldn’t risk it. She had to play it calm. She had to act as her normal confident self. She did, however, jump when the bedroom door opened suddenly.

“Sorry, Director.” Agent Balboa apologized as he entered the room.

“Yes, Agent Balboa. Any news, yet?”

Balboa shook his head. “Agent Gibbs and his team are still looking. He wanted me to tell you that they are following up on information and that it would be best for you to stay here for a while longer.”

“What kind of information?” Jenny’s heart rate sped up and she had to take a deep breath to calm herself.

Balboa took out his notebook and paged through it until he reached a certain entry. “It seemed like one of the scumbags Tony put away while he was still a detective in Baltimore, escaped. Guy by the name of Gerald Painter. He was linked to possible terrorist activities, but nothing concrete. Tony got him locked up on a number of other charges; including capital murder. It seems like the years he spent in prison, he built himself a group of followers. They are definitely linked to terrorist activities. Gibbs is of the opinion they are behind all of this.”

Jenny nodded her head and could feel herself relax. “Then why the possible threat against me?” She had to ask the question, to look innocent.

“Gibbs thinks they are trying to show how powerful they are. To brag that they kidnapped the director of NCIS. With Tony it’s more personal.” Balboa explained and closed his little book. “I’ll keep you up to date, Director.” He looked around in the room. “Anything I can get you in the mean time? The house is pretty well stocked.”

Shepard shook her head. “I’m good, thank you, Agent Balboa.” She dismissed the man with a nod of her head and only when he exited the room did she allow herself to smile. Seemed like lady luck was on her side.

[ ](http://s792.photobucket.com/user/Dont_hate_me01/media/Artboard%201_zpsaed3qy5b.png.html)


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Gibbs sagged back into the chair as the doctor left the room. His mind was still reeling at what the surgeon had told them. He reached out, placed his hand over Tony’s and couldn’t help but to shiver as he felt how cold Tony’s hand was. Tony's temperature always dropped low after surgery, this time there was no exception to the rule.

“They are bringing extra blankets, Jethro.” Ducky’s voice sounded next to him.

Gibbs nodded his head and didn’t bother to reply.

“Anthony will be all right, Jethro. You heard what the surgeon said.” Ducky tried again.

This time Gibbs snorted. “Will he really be all right, Ducky? Yes, I heard what the doctor said, but all that damage. He was not even certain if Tony would regain full use of his left arm again. The only reason why we know that his right arm and hand is all right is because he nearly managed to strangle Doctor Cross in the ER. He will never be able to qualify for field duty with only one working arm, Ducky. It will destroy him, and then we’re not even talking about the emotional scars. He was tortured. His skin flayed from his back. You heard what that fucking bastard had done to him; I saw those fishhooks in him. The nerve damage was too severe. The surgeon is almost one hundred percent sure he’s lost all feeling in the nipple and areola region. Then I’m not even talking about his shoulders and upper back. You heard it all. Massive tendon and nerve damage. Muscles were torn. Intensive therapy for at least four to six months.” Gibbs stopped and sighed. “There may have been no sign of rape, but you know as well as I do, Ducky, that doesn’t exclude sexual assault. We won’t know if any of that happened until Tony wakes up and tells us that and you know him. He’ll put on his mask, smile as if he has no cares in the world, but he will bottle up everything and maybe never tell us the whole truth.” Gibbs looked down at the man in the bed again. “I can’t lose him, Ducky. He’s my life.”

“Tony will only give up if you do, Jethro.” Ducky reminded his friend. “Yes, he has got a difficult road ahead of him, but you know Tony is not a quitter. He will never say die. Do not let him ever hear you doubting in him, Jethro. It will kill him faster than anything else life might hand out to him.”

Gibbs bowed his head. “I will not give up on him, Duck. I will fight with him every step of the way.”

“Then it is settled. Tony will come back to work as your second in command. He will just need a bit of time and we know him, he’ll surprise the doctors and will most likely be back in the saddle in closer in four months than to their estimated six months.” Ducky took the chair next to Gibbs and settled in. “I’ve got another question for you, Jethro. One that I know you've been avoiding since all of this started.”

Gibbs looked at his friend. He knew what Ducky was referring to. “Jenny?”

Ducky nodded his head. “I know she was your partner. I have a feeling that at one time she was more than just your partner, but that is all water under the bridge. We have all seen how she looked at Tony. I know one or two people have overheard her making snide remarks about Tony. Tony told you something was going on. As Abby would put it, something hinky, but you blew him off. Why, Jethro? Why are you walking with blinders on your eyes when it comes to Jenny Shepard?”

Gibbs remained silent for a very long time before he answered. “I proposed to her, Ducky. We had that mission in Paris and just before we returned, I went down on my knee and I popped the question. She was the first one after Shannon and Kelly that made me feel alive. She gave me back my purpose in life.” Gibbs became silent again. “She accepted and two days after we were back in the States I found her waiting for me in my basement. I knew why she was there. I tried to persuade her to stay, but in the end she placed the ring on the work bench, kissed me one last time and told me she’d always love me.” He looked up at his friend. “Until I met Tony, until I realized that he was the one I would spend the rest of my natural days with, I loved her – on one or other level I always loved her. I didn’t want to see what everyone else saw, yes, I’m guilty of walking with blinders on, Duck. But, I will make it right. I will not let her get away with it.”

Ducky slapped Gibbs on the shoulder. “You need to explain this to Tony, he needs to hear this.”

“I know. It’s going to hurt him so much, but I owe it to him and I will make it right.”

“That is all you can do, Jethro. That is all you can do.”

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Pacci stared at the man behind the reflective glass. If it wasn’t for the lumpy bag, they most likely wouldn’t have found the bastard so quickly. The EMTs checked him out after Tony was rushed to the hospital. There wasn’t much what they could do about his broken nose. The rest of the injuries he sustained were deep bruising. He hadn’t uttered a word since he’d regained consciousness and Pacci dragged his ass back to NCIS headquarters. Luckily for the man, he had taken him out of that bag first - he had to admit, he was very tempted leaving the bastard in there to rot. They were waiting for a hit on his fingerprints, nothing so far on any of the sites they checked. He had also sent the man’s cell phone down to Abby; it was locked with a code that wasn't just the normal required pin code. He hoped Abby or McGee would be able to crack it and get access to the man’s phone. In the meantime, he had nothing to do, but to wait.

Saunders knew someone was staring at him through the reflective glass, he didn’t expect less. He had a pounding headache, but would not ask for anything to sooth it down. He had to think, he had to push through the pain and get out of this mess himself. He knew he wouldn’t be able to count on his employer to get him free. She would never do that. In fact, if she found out he was caught, she wouldn't hesitate in having him killed. He couldn’t take it personally; it was part of the job. What he wanted to do was to kick himself. He should’ve killed his mark when he had the chance, but he had to admit, he was influenced by his employer’s words and he misjudged the mark. Tony DiNozzo was not just a pretty face. He wasn’t dumb or useless. He was a fighter and a survivor and now a huge problem, not only to him, but to his employer as well. He was stupid in attempting to try out a new killing method on an agent. He should’ve gone with something simple. But, he was bored and now he was about to pay for his boredom.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Tony wrinkled his nose as the smell of strong antiseptics attacked his senses. He groaned and tried to rub his nose, but his hand was pulled away. He moaned and tried again still not succeeding in his task.

“Stop it, Tony. It needs to stay on.” Gibbs lightly chastised the man in the bed as he saw Tony trying to pull the nasal cannula away from his face. His second in command had been trying to wake up for the last hour and a half, becoming more restless, but still refusing to open his eyes. Ducky said it was quite normal and that Tony would open his eyes when he was ready and able to do just that.

Tony groaned as he heard the familiar voice next to him. His body ached and the thing over his top lip was irritating and he wanted it gone. He tried for the third time, but this time around something grabbed hold of his hand and held him tight. He tried to pull away, but couldn’t get his hand free and he started to struggle. He had no idea where he was, the last thing he could remember was him fighting for his life. Without thinking about it or even opening his eyes, he lashed out - or tried to. The moment he lifted his arms high, streaks of pain assaulted him, making him shout out in pain, his eyes snapped open. He gasped for breath as the pain that assaulted him refused to let go. He tried to get up, but couldn’t get the necessary leverage he needed in his arms to get him upright. In fact, the moment he tried to use his arms another, even more intense wave of pain assaulted him.

Gibbs was on his feet the moment Tony screamed, his partner’s voice laced with anguish. “Tony,” he tried to get Tony to lie down again, but the young man fought him hard. He managed to press the call button, although he had the suspicion that the nursing staff had heard Tony scream and that they were on their way. He was correct, even before he could let go of the button Tony’s door opened and two nurses stormed in. “Help him,” Gibbs nearly pleaded as he still tried to get Tony to lie down without letting him hurt himself.

The male nurse rushed over to assist Gibbs in pinning Tony to the bed, while the second nurse rushed to the emergency cabinet to the side of Tony's bed and filled a syringe with a clear liquid. Gibbs didn’t need to ask what it was as she pressed the needle into the IV port and within moments Tony’s struggles became less until he stopped struggling all together and fell quiet.

“What did you gave him?” Gibbs’ voice was gruff with emotion.

“A strong sedative prescribed by Doctor Cross. He was certain that something like this could happen, taking into regard what happened in the ER,” the nurse explained as she started to check Tony over to see if he did any damage to his wounds before she tidied the blankets around Tony's sleeping figure.

Gibbs nodded his head in agreement. “How long will he be out?” He took his place next to Tony’s side again, his hand once again covering Tony’s.

“A good four to five hours. Why don’t you go and stretch your legs a bit, Agent Gibbs? I will call you the moment he moves.” The nurse suggested even as she picked up the emptied coffee cup to go and fill it up at the nurse’s station.

Gibbs wanted to refuse, but he was getting a bit antsy from sitting still the whole time. He also wanted to check in with the various teams to see what they had for him. “You’ll call me immediately?”

Nurse Stewards smiled. “I promise.” She looked on as the older man kissed his sleeping partner on the forehead before he exited the room with her. She smiled as Gibbs walked with purpose towards the elevators. She was happy that she was not the one responsible for placing Tony DiNozzo in hospital, she might not know Gibbs but she was sure his wrath was the one thing you didn’t want on you.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Chris looked at his phone as it chimed in his hand. “How’s he doing, Gibbs?” He smiled as he heard that the surgery went well. “He’ll be back at your six in no time, Gibbs. I’m sure of that.” He nodded his head at the next comment. “Still letting the bastard stew, Gibbs. Abby and McGee are still looking for an ID on this guy, but they keep on coming up with nothing.” He turned and looked through the observation window again. “He seems calm and collected, not the twitchy kind.” Pacci looked at his watch. “Ok, I'll leave him here for another hour and then pounce on him.” Pacci smiled again. “I can’t wait to see his reaction.” Pacci ended the call and looked at the man in the other room. “You messed with the wrong person when you tried to kill DiNozzo. Gibbs will tear you apart.” He settled back, picked up the cold case file he was working on to wait for the hour to pass, before he would provide their detainee with that out of the field information. He had no idea how the man would respond, but in which way ever, it was going to be epic.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Balboa stepped out of the house as he answered his phone. “Gibbs, how’s he doing?” He sighed at the answer. “That’s wonderful news. He’ll be up in no time, you know that.” He kept on walking towards the garage, making sure that no one heard this conversation. “How do you want to play this?” He listened intently and smiled. “DiNozzo would be proud of you, that’s something he would come up with.” He nodded his head. “It’s going to be difficult, but I’ll do it. You want the rest of my team to stay in the dark as well?” Balbo sighed. “I understand.” He looked at his watch. “One hour and then we move her? Got it. Will do.” He nodded his head once more. “Keep him safe, Gibbs.” He ended the call and dragged his hand over his face. He had to get his mind right, he had to pull this off.

Balboa walked with his head bowed back into the safe house. He looked at his second in command, Sophie and shook his head. “They found Tony, but he didn’t make it.” He indicated with his head to the closed bedroom door. “I need to inform the Director.”

Sophie Emerson bowed her head. She had always liked Tony a lot and to hear that he didn’t make it was a huge shock. “Is she part of it?”

Balboa shook his head, but then nodded. His second in command was always very perceptive and he couldn’t play her. “She might be, but Gibbs has a plan. If she is involved she would pay, in the meantime, we can’t let her suspect anything, clear on that, Sophie?”

“Crystal clear.” She lowered her head. “I’m going to miss him.”

Balboa nodded his head. “We all are.” He turned and knocked once on the door before entering it quickly.

Shepard looked up from where she was seated when the knock came on the door. “Enter,” she stood up as Balboa entered the room. “Any news?”

Balboa lowered his head. “Gibbs just phoned me, they found DiNozzo.” Balboa took a deep breath before he continued. “He didn’t make it. Tony’s dead.”

Shepard brought her hand up to her mouth, stifling a laugh and managed to turn into a groan of agony as she heard Balboa telling her they found Tony and that he’s dead. “No,” she shook her head. “No, it can't be.” She sank back onto the bed. “Gibbs, he must be devastated. I need to go to him. He needs my support.”

Balboa wanted to growl and rip her head from her shoulders, but he managed to keep it together. “Gibbs asked me to keep you here a while longer, Director. Tony managed to tell him that it was a professional hit.”

“What?” Jenny blanched noticeably.

“Gibbs is of the opinion that the scumbag Gerald Painter put out a professional hit on Tony.”

Shepard managed to compose herself. “Did Agent DiNozzo say the hit was ordered by Gerald Painter, or just a professional hit, and do we know who?”

Balboa nodded his head. “I’m not sure if Tony was able to tell Gibbs who ordered the hit, but he did say it was a hit. It also seems like Gibbs knows who it is, and you know Gibbs. He will leave no stone unturned. He will find the hit man, and then the sparks will really fly.” Balboa looked down at the Director. “We’ll leave within the hour. Gibbs wants to make sure you're not in danger before we move you.”

Shepard nodded her head in agreement. “I’ll be ready to leave then.” She looked at her phone; she had to find out if she was safe. The urge to phone and find out for herself was just too great. She didn’t like the fact that Tony mentioned a professional assassin, but by the sound of things, they were barking up the wrong tree. She would make only one call.

Balboa left the room and started to bark orders, as they made ready to head back to the Yard. He smirked as his phone chimed once. “Got you.” He pulled out his phone and made one call of his own. Their trap was set.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

McGee and Abby’s fingers flew over their respective keyboards as they triangulated all of the calls coming in and established the grids on the maps and saved it for evidence purposes. Both of them worked in total silence, even Abby’s earsplitting music was turned off. When a final _ping_ sounded in the lab, they both looked at one another and stopped typing all together. “It’s done.” McGee spoke softly.

Abby nodded her head. “Yes, and now we wait.” She looked at all of the empty Caf-Pow containers surrounding her. She shook her head. “I’m never going to sleep again.”

McGee got to his feet. “You will.” He pulled her into his arms. She started to struggle almost immediately.

“Nothing hinky, Abby. Just want to hug you.” He kept her in his arms.

“Sorry,” her voice sounded muffled against his chest. She sighed and relaxed against his hold. “You think he’ll be all right?”

“It’s Tony we’re talking about. He’ll be more than all right.” McGee released her from his embrace. “Let’s phone Gibbs and then hit your futon for a few moments, just to rest. I know you won’t sleep now.”

“Good idea.” Abby grabbed her phone and pressed the speed dial button allocated to Gibbs. She frowned as it kept on ringing and then went to voice message. “That’s strange. He always answers.” She tried again and got the same result, she was about to phone a third time when Tim grabbed her shoulder and she turned around to ask him what his problem was when she saw Ducky standing in the door.

“No, no. Ducky, no.” She shook her head even as her legs gave way and she fell to the floor. “NO!!”

“I am sorry, Abigail. I am truly sorry.” Ducky walked towards the stunned McGee and Abby, placing one hand on Abby’s shoulder and the other on Tim’s. “I am truly sorry.”

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Pacci slammed the man into the wall hard, his fists curled around the man’s shirt, his face set in a snarl. “You’re fucking dead,” he sneered as he slammed Saunders against the wall once more before letting him go stumbling back. “But, unfortunately for you, it’s not me who will kill you.” He dragged the still stunned man back to the chair. “Sit your ass down.” He pushed the assassin down into the chair. Pacci took a deep breath to calm himself. “Your name is Gregory Saunders.” He kept pacing around the table, but smirked as he saw how Saunders’ body grew tense at the mention of his name.

“Up until a few minutes ago, you were just another name, but then our forensic scientist ran your DNA, and what a surprise we got. So much so, that we can now say, that you’re an assassin for hire. You love travelling the globe, never settling down in one place if we look at all the murders we can connect you with all over the world. I must say, I am impressed with the fact that you’ve never been caught before, but with so many different methods of death that you employ, it’s no wonder.” Pacci shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe because you’ve got a fear for commitment, or know that if you settled down you could be traced easily. I really don’t care. What is strange is the fact that none of the alphabet agencies ever picked up on you. But, that’s now something of the past. We got you and we’re very interested in you. You see, we take it very personally if someone kills one of our own.”

Saunders shoulders relaxed as he heard that his target was dead. At least one thing had gone as planned. The fact that they managed to find out his identity was a source of concern. He remained silent.

Chris smirked again. He loved it when they went all stoic. It was time to go in for the kill. “Your employer made a deal, gave you right up.” It was far from the truth, but it was worth to see the tension appearing in Saunders’ shoulders again.

“Yep, made a cozy deal. Your employer made sure to hang you out to dry.” He laughed hard. “And to think here you sat, quietly, just waiting. For what? To be rescued? Your employer didn’t think about you.” Chris shook his head. “Didn’t think about you for one second.” He took the seat across from the hired man. “The deal?” He cocked his head. “The death penalty for you.” Chris looked at his watch. “That’s if you survive until then.” He stood up and walked around the table, grabbing Saunders by his arm and lifting him out of his chair. “Time for you to be transported to the holding cells. I’d just be a bit careful if I was you. Tony was liked by everyone. You might find yourself tripping a lot before you reach your cell.”

Saunders balked as he was pulled out of his chair. He couldn’t believe what he heard, she would never sell him out. But, the only way they could know about his name was if she did indeed talk. It did seem like she sold him out. “You’re lying, she’d never do that. She knows I can bring her down.”

Chris pushed him into the wall again. “Jenny Shepard.” He smirked. “She always looks out for herself.”

Saunders screamed. “I’ll kill her, I’ll fucking kill her!”

It was all that they needed. “You’ll find there’s a very long line for that mission.” He slapped the cuffs around Saunders’ wrists and prepared to lead him out of the interrogation room. “Hold on,” he checked his watch. “Have a seat. We're a bit early.” He leaned against the wall after Saunders sat down again. He looked at the man in front of him. “How much?”

“How much what?” Saunders growled.

“How much did she pay you for this hit?”

Saunders snorted. “Not nearly enough.” He shook his head and remained silent. His head kept on spinning. He had to get out of this. “I want to make a deal.”

Pacci shook his head. “She already made a deal, we’ve got you. There is no deal for you.”

“You don’t understand, I can give you more.”

Chris laughed. “More what? Shepard made one deal with you and paid you to kill an agent. She sold you out. Open and shut case for us.”

“No, no. It’s not only one deal. She’s been my main employer for years. It’s not the first time I killed for her.”

Chris grew cold at the news. It was worse than what they thought. But, he also had his orders and Gibbs knew what he was doing. “No deal.” He looked at his watch again. “Okay, let's go.” He pulled Saunders up by his arm and walked him to the door. He opened the door and pushed the assassin out in front of him and then everything seemed to happen at once.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Balboa knocked on the door once again as they were ready to move out. He stood to the side as the Director moved past him out of the room. “They found him, they found the bastard who killed Tony.”

“What, that’s wonderful news.” Shepard shivered slightly as she stumbled over her own feet.

Balboa grabbed Shepard’s arm as her steps faltered. “You all right, Director?”

“Yes, sorry. Stumbled over my own feet.” She swallowed hard and got into the car. Jenny knew she had to play her cards right. “So there’s no threat against me?”

“No, Director. It seems like you were never a target. The low life bastard was only contracted to take Tony out.”

“Good, then drop me off at my home, please. I have some business to take care of. This time at the safe house disrupted my schedule.” She sat back and didn’t see the look that passed between Balboa and his second in command.

Sophie couldn’t believe what she heard. She would’ve thought that the Director would want to know who the assassin was, but she didn’t ask one question. She thought that she would want to go in to the office to see this assassin for herself, or even to talk to the rest of the agency, to support them in this tragic time. They had lost an agent. One who on the outside came across as the class clown, but within a pure pillar of strength. But nothing. She was more concerned about the disruption in her schedule. She had to bite on her tongue not to say something.

Balboa shook his head. “Sorry, Director. Agent Gibbs asked me to take you to the Navy yard.” Seeing that the woman wanted to object, he added on. “He indicated that he needed to talk to you.”

Shepard wanted to yell out in frustration, but Balboa’s words soothed her down. Gibbs needed her. She had a part to play. “Yes, he must be devastated. I’ll talk to him.”

The rest of the drive back into the city was done in silence. Balboa stopped the car in front of the main entrance and got out with the Director. Emerson would go and park the car while he walked the Director up to her office. A heavy silence settled over the open plan office. All of the desks were filled, but no one talked. Balboa guided the Director past all of the personnel and saw her off at her office. “I’ll let Gibbs know you’re here, Director.”

“Thank you, Agent Balboa.” Shepard took her seat behind her desk and took out the burner phone to check her messages again. There was still no word from Saunders, but it didn’t mean bad news. She had to remain cool. Even if they had Saunders in custody - which she doubted, they still would not know who he was. She had her ducks in a row. Saunders would not talk if it were he who was in custody. Jenny smiled. Gibbs was hers. She would make sure he forgot about that playboy pretty soon. Tony DiNozzo would disappear from Gibbs’ mind like fog in front of the sun.

“Enter,” she called out, as there was a knock on her door. She looked up as Balboa appeared in the door.

“Director, Agent Gibbs requested your presence in interrogation room 1. He wanted you to be there when he interrogated the suspect.”

Sheppard swallowed hard. There was no way in which she could say no. She nodded her head and came to her feet. “Let’s go.” She dropped the phone into her pocket, straightened her jacket, and walked out of the office with Balboa right on her shoulder. Together they made it down to the basement level where the interrogation rooms were located. As they rounded the corner, the door at the furthest end of the hall opened up and two men stepped out. Everything happened in slow motion. Jenny looked up and her gaze locked with Saunders. She gasped for air as at the same time Saunders made a launch at her and nearly managed to push her off her feet when he attacked her.

“You crazy bitch! I’ll fucking kill you, I’ll kill you!” Saunders leaped at Shepard, managing to push her against the wall, even with his handcuffed behind his back.

“Shut up! Shut up!” She yelled again as she tried to push the man off her.

“You sold me out, you fucking bitch. After everything I did for you, you sold me out.” Saunders tried to push her to the floor so that he could kick her, but found himself being dragged away. “Let me go, I’ll kill her.”

“Sorry Saunders - can’t let you do that.” Pacci pulled the man back and with the help of some extra agents managed to get the enraged man down the hall.

Balboa helped Shepard to her feet. “You all right, Director?”

“Yes, thank you.” Shepard trembled as she straightened her hair and clothes.

“Do you have any idea why he attacked you like this? Do you know him?” He asked in concern as he guided her through the open door.

Shepard shook her head. “I’ve never seen him before. Who is he?” She asked, shaken but still trying to cover her own tracks.

Balboa didn't comment on her reaction to the hit man. “Let me get you some water.” He left her in the room to go and get her some water. He was back within a minute. “Here you go, Director.” He handed her the water and took a seat across from her.

Jenny struggled to open the water, seeing Saunders like that caught her off guard more than what she thought. She nodded her thanks as the agent took the bottle from her and opened it up. “You didn't answer me, who is that man?” Shepard asked as the silence stretched on too long for her liking.

Balboa had to school his features not to grin. He couldn’t believe how easy she was making this. “That's the guy we caught for Agent DiNozzo's murder.”

Shepard nodded her head. “I see.”

Balboa leaned forward. “You’ve never seen him before?”

“No.”

“Mm, it’s strange. He was very aggressive towards you. Threatening to kill you. Saying you sold him out. You sure you’ve never seen him before?”

“He’s mistaken. Clearly deranged.” She looked down at her hands and scolded. They were still trembling.

“Yes, indeed. I have to agree with you. I saw the end of his interview with Agent Pacci. He made some very wild accusations.” Balboa didn’t elaborate.

“What sort of accusations,” Shepard found herself asking.

“We were under the impression that this was a one off deal, but now he alleged that it was not. That his employer has been having him doing this sort of thing for quite a number of years. We’re thinking of making a deal with him. If he’s only the bottom feeder than it’s in our interest to find out more. We’re going to have him stew for a few hours before getting him back in here.”

“Surely there can be no deal for a man like him?”

“It all depends on what he has to offer. You know the DA’s office. They will make all sorts of offers, especially if there’s a chance in promoting their political career.” Balboa sighed. “You sure you’ve never had any dealings with him before, Director?” He held up his hand in an apologizing way. “Just want to make sure.”

“I told you, I don’t know him. Now where’s Gibbs? I thought he wanted me here?”

“Right here,” Gibbs said as he opened the door and stepped inside. He nodded his head at Balboa and took the empty seat as the man stood up and waited by the door.

“Jethro.” Shepard stood up and stepped closer to the man. “How are you doing? Anything I can do to help?”

Gibbs had to do everything in his power not to physically strangle the woman in front of him. But, he had a job to do and he would not let his anger get the better of him. “Holding on, thanks, Jenny.” He used her first name in an attempt to pacify her. He looked down at the papers in his hands. “I heard Saunders threatened you? You all right?”

“A bit shaken up, but nothing too serious. What do we know about this man?”

“He’s a gun for hire, but one of the slippery kind. None of the other agencies were even aware of him. That was until now. Made some heavy allegations – especially against you.” Gibbs caught Shepard’s eyes in his steel gaze.

“It’s absurd. You know that.”

“That’s what I said as well, but he’s adamant. We’ll have to look into it. To clear your name, of course.”

“Go ahead.” Shepard smiled.

“Good. Let’s get started then with a few basic questions and then we can be out of here.” Gibbs opened the file. “You went home at about seven last night, correct?”

“Yes, correct.”

“You stayed there the whole time?”

Shepard shook her head. “I had an important meeting to attend. Classified. Agent Balboa picked me up just as I was waiting for my team.”

“Who classified the meeting?”

“SecNav, and he also arranged that I attend on his behalf.”

“Where was this meeting?”

“On the outskirts of DC.”

“That was the only place you went to, except home?”

Jenny swallowed hard, but nodded her head. They had nothing against her; she only had to keep her head.

“Your cell phone was out of service for a period of about five hours, were you aware of this?”

“I had battery problems.”

Gibbs paged through the file. “That’s all for now. Thank you, Director.” He rose to his feet.

“You’ll keep me up to date with the investigation?”

“I will.” Gibbs looked on as she exited the room.

“She never asked once about any arrangements for Tony.” Balboa seethed.

Gibbs only shrugged. “Did he manage to get it?”

“I think so. You’re going to deal with him?”

Gibbs grinned. “To get her, I’ll deal with the devil.” He looked at his watch. “I need to get back. Make sure the last pieces of this puzzle are put together and phone when it’s done. I only want to deal with her once more and that’s to arrest her.”

“Will do.” Balboa slapped the man on the shoulder. “Talk to you later.”

Gibbs exited the interrogation room and went to look up Pacci. He found the man talking to FBI Agent Tobias Fornell.

“Gibbs,” Fornell shook Gibbs' hand.

“Tobias.”

“We’ll get to the bottom of this.” He held out the evidence bag with two sealed phones inside he received from Chris. “You sure you want our office to do this? We know you’ve got the best person for this job.”

Gibbs nodded his head. “I’m sure.” He didn’t need to elaborate. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Abby, but he couldn’t put her in danger. He had no idea if Shepard worked alone, so he had to be careful.

“Abby’s going to skin you alive.”

“I’m aware of that, but hopefully when I explained everything she’ll forgive me.”

Tobias looked at the evidence bag again. “So Balboa is a pick pocket as well as an NCIS agent.”

Pacci grinned. “It’s a skill he picked up from Tony. But, the best thing for us about this phone is she can’t even make a scene about it, because then she’d have to explain why she had it in the first place.”

“Let me know as soon as you have everything, I need to get back.” Gibbs left the two men standing in the bullpen and headed out. The scowl on his face made sure that no one tried to approach him to give their respective condolences.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

“I know you’re upset, Miss Sciuto, and I can understand that, but this is a death of a federal agent and therefore it falls under the jurisdiction of the FBI and not NCIS.” Fornell hated having this conversation with the scientist, but this was the way Gibbs wanted it to be handled. They wanted to put all of the puzzle pieces together and when they finally confronted Shepard nail her down in one shot.

“Tony was one of us. We take care of our own.” Abby snapped as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, refusing to give in to the demand of handing over all of the evidence they’ve collected. Her eyes were puffy and red, tear streaks covered her cheeks.

“I can call Gibbs if you want me to, but do you really want to bother him with this?” Tobias flinched at the low blow he was dealing out.

Abby opened her mouth, but then snapped it shut immediately. In any other circumstances, she wouldn’t have hesitated in phoning Gibbs, but to bother him with something like this seemed childish. “You’ll make sure the chain stays intact, Agent Fornell. I will not let anyone get away with this because the FBI managed to drop the ball.”

“Of course, Miss Sciuto. I will personally make sure of it.” Fornell took the promise personally. He was not about to let a murderer walk free due to the correct procedure not being followed. He gathered up everything before he made his way out of the lab. He looked at his watch; he’d have to hurry if he didn't want to be late. Gibbs would take it out of his ass if he were late.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Gibbs pressed a soft kiss on the sleeping man’s forehead before he turned to face the other occupant in the room. “You’ll keep him safe until I’m back. No one enters this room without proper identification.”

“I’ll keep him safe, Gibbs.” Agent Sacks replied. He and Tony might not see eye to eye, but they still respected one another and he would not hesitate to shoot anyone who would try to kill his fellow agent.

Gibbs nodded his thanks as he exited the room. He made his way down the elevator to the first floor and entered a small boardroom the hospital allowed him to use. They were very accommodating when he informed them what he wanted and why he had to do it here. The fact that Doctor Cross put in a good word or two helped as well.

He greeted the three other men in the room. Except for them, Sacks, Ducky and the hospital personnel, no one else knew that Tony DiNozzo was still alive. “What do we have?”

Chris Pacci spoke up first as he indicated to the various maps and satellite photos he’d pinned to the walls. The maps were highlighted in four different colors – red, blue, green and yellow. And at all times, two of the colors – red and blue ran concurrently, the yellow only interacting once with the two lines. A second printout showed interaction between two cell phones. The colors used there were red and yellow. “Abby and McGee did a tremendous job with this. I’m still in awe that they managed to crack the code on Saunders’ phone. If we didn’t have it, we wouldn’t have been able to link any of this together.” He indicated to the blue line. “This line represents Tony. The red Saunders and the yellow Shepard. The green line is also Shepard’s phone, but more on that later. Initially we only had the red, green and the yellow lines, but due to Tony using the burner phone to contact Abby, she and McGee were able to backtrack it and filled in that missing link.”

“So that’s not Tony’s own phone?” Tobias spoke up.

Pacci shook his head. “Contact was lost with Tony’s cell the moment he left NCIS and it’s still not recovered.”

“I’m still waiting to hear back from the team I sent out to where we picked up Shepard, I have a feeling they’ll find a burnt-out phone at the scene.” Balboa spoke up.

“What else?” Gibbs returned his attention back to the maps.

“The green line is the Director’s personal phone. The yellow line is the burner phone Balboa picked off her during their scuffle in the hallway. It’s the phone she used to communicate with Saunders and in the end, it’s the one we used to draw up this map as she had it with her at all times and established a direct link between them. It shows her going to her house when she left the office, leaving approximately an hour and a half later going to the downtown section and entering the warehouse district where she was for about forty-five minutes before heading out and then the phone goes off the map. It only comes back online later on when Abby picks up the signal and notifies Balboa and his team.” Pacci indicated to the yellow line from where it broke off and appeared again. “The green line follows the exact same route, disappears at the same time and reappears at the same time as well. We did an estimate and the distance travelled with the amount of time missing we can come to the conclusion that this is the road she would’ve driven to get to the point where she was picked up.”

He walked over to the second map. “This map shows the interaction between the burner phone Tony had and Saunders’ phone. Abby backtracked the phone and it was first picked up at the Monumental Hotel with no indication where it came from. This is where the theory comes in that the car he’d driven was blocked by a jammer.” Chris turned to the map again. “With the backtracking done it shows that this phone and Saunders phone were together from the hotel until we found them at the abandoned farm – they never separated. That is enough to link Saunders to the crime.” He went back to the first map and using a black marker, he circled the warehouse district. “This is worth mentioning again. It shows Tony’s burner phone, Saunders’ phone and Shepard’s burner phone, all together and stayed together for an estimate of forty-five minutes. The exact same time Shepard’s personal phone was at the same place and just before her cell phone stopped broadcasting a signal. It’s also when these images of her from the street cameras were taken.”

Pacci moved over to the third map. This one had the red and yellow markers used on it. “When Shepard contacted Saunders from the safe house we _pinged_ the two phones and our technicians were able to come up with this. We know she had her personal phone with her, as Balboa and his team saw it. It’s not noted on here, as we presume she switched it off.” He indicated to the chart. “They had regular contact with one another throughout the day, keeping in touch with cryptic text messages. We are still analyzing all of it. The last nail in her coffin is this text.” Pacci marked the last line entry on the chart. “This was sent from Shepard’s burn phone to Saunders’ phone after she arrived at the Yard.” He looked over his shoulder to the other men in the room. “As soon as we get feedback from Balboa’s team on what they found at the fire scene we'll be able to tie everything up nicely with a bow.”

Gibbs nodded his head. “And I’ll have her head on a platter.” He looked at his watch again. “I have to go, keep me up to speed.” He left the room, headed back to Tony’s hospital room where he excused Sacks from his post of keeping guard over Tony, and took his position up next to Tony’s bed. He settled in for the wait.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

**Late Following Morning**

Gibbs placed the cold cloth to the side as Tony finally opened his eyes and looked around with confusion. Tony had shown signs of waking up since very early in the morning. In fact, he’d managed to open his eyes on three previous occasions, but they never stayed open for longer than a few seconds at a time. The first time he was clearly scared, but had calmed down when Gibbs had told him he was safe. The second and third time he was much calmer, but didn’t say a word. This time it looked like he was going to wake up completely. Gibbs waited patiently until recognition appeared in Tony’s eyes and the tension in Tony’s body disappeared.

“Gibbs?” Tony asked, his voice ruff and he cleared his throat. He looked around in the room. “You found me.”

“I’m sorry it took so long,” Gibbs started to explain but stopped as Tony shook his head.

“Don’t apologize; it’s a sign of weakness.” He smiled and tried to move, but then hissed in pain as his injured shoulders protested with him moving. “Fuck,” he winced again.

“Easy,” Gibbs pressed Tony back against the bed. “Your body has taken quite a hit. Just take it easy.” He pressed the call button, knowing that Tony was in tremendous pain for him to swear like that. “I know you’re in pain, but how are you feeling?”

Tony sighed and pressed his face deeper against Gibbs’ hand that was cupping his face. “Like a Mac truck hit me.” He shook his head. “It’s all so blurry.” His eyes grew large as his memories caught up with him. “Jethro,” he gasped as he lifted himself from the bed, the pain forgotten as he truly remembered what had happened.

“Easy, Tony.” Gibbs tried to get the young man to lie back again.

“No, I have to tell you.” Tony struggled weakly against Gibbs’ hold.

Gibbs could see that Tony had reached his end with the pain he was experiencing. He knew by the look on Tony’s face that he remembered everything that happened. But, he also didn’t want Tony to make any of his injuries worse. “Look at me, I know what happened. I know who’s behind this and we’ll get her, but you need to calm down. I don’t want you to hurt yourself further.” Gibbs pleaded as he tried to get Tony to lie back again. He looked at the door; he couldn’t believe how long it took for the nurse on duty to get to the room, although it was only a couple of minutes since Tony woke up.

Tony groaned. His body throbbed with pain, especially his shoulders and back. He wanted nothing more than to be able to escape the agony he was experiencing. “Hurts,” he pressed against Gibbs.

“I know, DiNozzo. Nurse will be here soon.” Gibbs held his partner’s hand tightly as he managed to get him to settle back onto the bed. With his free hand, he grabbed the wet cloth and gently wiped Tony’s face. “You're burning up.” He tried to keep his voice calm, but the fact that Tony was hurting, that he was sporting a fever and that the nurse was not coming was testing his patience. He pressed the button again and was about to snarl when the door opened and the nurse came in.

Something must’ve shown on his face as she took an involuntary step backwards before regaining her composure and stepping up to the bed. “I’m sorry it took so long. We had an emergency on the floor.”

Tony groaned as Gibbs’ hand tightened around his. He was feeling more like shit than like a human being.

“He’s in pain and his fever is high, do something.” This time Gibbs did bark and looked on in glee as the nurse jumped at his voice before she managed to get herself into gear and react.

“I’ll get something, immediately.” She quickly disappeared, not giving Gibbs the opportunity to chew her out again.

Tony managed to snort. “Love it when you go caveman on me.” He swallowed hard and then sighed as the cool cloth was placed on his burning forehead. “Feels good.”

Gibbs smiled at Tony’s comment. He pressed the cloth to Tony’s skin and then reached for the glass of water next to Tony’s head. “You want a few sips of this?”

Tony looked at the glass, nodded yes but then changed his mind as his stomach rolled over. “Sick,” he managed to turn his head as he started to heave hard. He was dimly aware of the fact that Gibbs had managed to help him onto his side and that the older man was swearing, but the pain in his body took preference before anything else as he heaved again and the bile that he expelled soiled his bedding and even the flimsy hospital top he had on.

Doctor Cross opened the door just to be in time to see Tony being violently ill. He called out over his shoulder for extra medication as he hurried into the room to assist his patient. The nurse that followed on his heels quickly handed him the two syringes and without further hesitation, he emptied both into the IV port connected to the back of Tony’s hand. “This will help,” he explained as he helped Gibbs to get Tony settled down again after the agent finished being ill. “We’ll clean this up right away.”

Tony nodded his head, his breathing hard as the pain slowly started to turn into a dull throb. He sighed and relaxed. “Thank you.”

Gibbs looked on as the pain lines on Tony's face disappeared slowly and his lover's eyes started to droop. It was clearly the good stuff and although he didn’t want Tony to be asleep once again, he was happy that Tony's pain was abating and that he could get some rest. “I’m not leaving you.” He whispered as Tony tried to fight the drowsiness again while he kept his eyes on Gibbs.

“Promise.” Tony whispered the word, but even before Gibbs could reply his eyes closed again and this time, they stayed close.

“I promise.” Gibbs kissed him on the forehead before he straightened and met Sebastian’s gaze.

“It’s good to see him awake, although I would’ve liked it if he wasn't ill like this.” Cross said as he started to evaluate his patient. He frowned as he noticed how warm Tony was to the touch and looked at the file he brought with him. “Seems like his fever is up quite a bit.”

“You sound worried.” Gibbs frowned.

Sebastian nodded. He knew that Gibbs would want it straight. “I am concerned. The chance of him getting an infection is great. I’ll have the lab draw some blood to see what’s going on. In the mean time I’ll prescribe something to keep the fever down and also place him on a broad spectrum antibiotic until we know what we’re dealing with.”

“How long till we know?”

“I’ll put a rush on it. Hopefully within the next few hours. I also contacted Doctor Pitt. He indicated that he’d make a round later during the day. I made sure he was up to speed on Tony's condition.” Cross concluded.

“Thank you,” Gibbs took his seat again. He knew it was time to wait again.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

The next time Tony awoke, it was much later during the day and he had to admit he felt a lot better, although still as weak as a day old kitten. He turned his head and smiled as he saw Gibbs asleep next to his bed. The man had dark circles under his eyes and Tony couldn’t help but to wonder how much sleep the man had since this whole thing started. Tony frowned. He had no idea how much time had passed, but strangely couldn't be bothered about it. His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth and even as he reached for the water next to him, Gibbs spoke up.

“Let me get that for you.” Gibbs brought the plastic cup to his mouth and he helped Tony take a few sips of the cold liquid.

Tony moaned as Gibbs removed the cup. “Still thirsty.”

“Let’s just see what your stomach makes with this. Don’t want you to become ill again.” Gibbs replied as he kept the cup in his hand. “How’s the pain?”

Tony shook his head. “A dull throb, but nothing I can’t handle.” He indicated to the cup, “Think I can have some more?”

Gibbs held the cup for Tony as the agent took another few sips. “Enough?” He asked as Tony pulled away from the cup.

“Yes, thanks.” Tony leaned back and closed his eyes for a second before opening them up again. “I made a mistake, Jethro.”

Gibbs shook his head. “I don’t know how you ended up at that abandoned farm, but I know it was not your fault.” He had been wondering what had happened with Tony since he first learned of his disappearance, but of one thing he was sure, it was not Tony’s fault. He cleared his throat. “I can’t take your statement, but I can get Fornell here within half an hour and he can take it down.”

“Can I tell you what happened and then talk to him later?” Tony had to explain to Gibbs, he had to get it all off his chest, without an audience present.

Gibbs cocked his head. “It’s not your fault, Tony. I don’t blame you for any of this, I’m just happy that you’re here. Can’t say in one piece, but you’re here and that’s what is important.”

Tony knew they would have to agree to disagree on that point. It was his fault, it was always his fault, but it was one argument he didn’t want to have with his lover now. “What’s the damage?” He asked instead. He knew he could’ve waited for the doctor, but he knew Gibbs would know what his injuries were as well.

Gibbs sighed. He had no idea where to start. He knew Tony had a couple of hard months lying in front of him and he wished he could take it on behalf of the younger man. “Can you tell me one thing before I tell you what you want to hear?”

Tony nodded once.

Gibbs stared into nothingness. He had to know the answer, but to ask the question was just as difficult. “You remember what happened?”

Tony closed his eyes as the images of what had transpired raced through his mind. “In full color.” He swallowed hard. “Where is he?”

“Locked up tight. He will not be getting near you, Tony. I promise.” Gibbs took his hand and squeezed it tight. “Did he, hmm, did he…” he swallowed hard and took a deep breath. “Did he sexually assault you?”

Tony looked away. “A rape kit was done?”

Gibbs nodded his head. “Yes, you were not raped.”

Tony sighed in relief. “He didn’t do anything sexual to me. He didn’t even try to kiss me.”

Gibbs frowned. “Then why ask about a rape kit?”

Tony met his gaze. “Because I had no idea what he did to me while I was unconscious.” He explained. “But, he didn’t touch me in any way while I was awake.” Tony placed his hands on his wrapped up chest. “Unless you count what he did with those fishhooks.”

Gibbs shuddered at the image he saw when Tony spoke about the hooks.

“Hey, you all right?” Tony asked in concern as he saw Gibbs shiver.

Gibbs snorted. “You’re the one nearly tortured to death, but you’re asking me if I'm all right.” He shook his head. “I love you so much, Anthony DiNozzo.”

Tony smiled. “Love you too, Jethro.” He squeezed Gibbs’ hand back. “You ready to tell me what the damage is?”

“Okay, here goes.” Gibbs took another deep breath. “Whole body is bruised. You’ll be interesting shades of greens, blues, yellows and purples for the next few weeks. You have a minor concussion, but the doctor is not too concerned about that. They’re keeping an eye on your lungs as they don’t want you to get a chest infection or worse.” Gibbs knew he was stalling and Tony knew it as well.

“What else, Jethro?” Tony was beginning to feel worried.

Gibbs stared at Tony’s chest. “The fish hooks caused some damage, Tony.”

“What kind of damage?” Tony asked. He saw that his chest was tightly bandaged, but he felt no pain and didn’t think it to be bad.

“Permanent nerve damage. The surgeon is sure that you have lost all feeling in the nipple and areola region.” Gibbs explained softly.

“No feeling in my nipples?” Tony’s hand rested on his chest. “Oh,” he shrugged. He had no words to explain what he felt. His nipples were always very sensitive to stimulation; in fact, Jethro had the ability to make him see stars by just playing with them. They had even discussed the possibility of getting them pierced for even more pleasure and now it was taken away. It was something small, but still felt huge to him. “What else?”

Gibbs looked on as the different emotions played across Tony’s face at the first bit of information. He could imagine what went through Tony’s mind and he had no words of comfort. “Your shoulder muscles were cut. There is massive tendon and nerve damage as well. You’ll need intensive therapy for the next four to six months.” He took a deep breath. “We know you can use your right arm, but there’s a possibility that you may have lost about sixty percent mobility in your left arm. Only time will tell if you’ll gain full use of your left arm again.”

Tony shook his head. He couldn’t believe what Gibbs told him. He had to be able to use both of his arms. How would he be able to work with only one arm? How would he re-qualify with only one arm? “No.”

“Tony,” Gibbs spoke up. “It will work out.”

“How can you say that, Jethro? You don’t know that. Sixty percent loss in mobility of my arm. I will never re-qualify. My life as an agent is over.”

“Are you giving up so easily? You’re a fighter, Tony. You’ve never given up before, even when you stared death in the face. You can’t give up now.” Gibbs grabbed hold of Tony’s hand and squeezed it hard. “I will not let you give up, never.”

Tony remained silent. So many thoughts raced through his mind. He was scared shitless and was at a loss on what to do. He closed his eyes and hoped that if he faked being asleep, Gibbs would leave him alone.

Gibbs remained seated. He could see Tony shutting down mentally. Ducky had warned him that something like this might happen and that he should give Tony the chance to work through everything mentally before grabbing him and pulling him back from any possible slump he might want to bury himself in. Gibbs would give him a day. If, after a day he still didn’t want to talk, or to fight, he would make sure to get Tony to fight. He would not give up on Tony and he would make sure Tony didn’t give up on himself.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

**Two days later**

“She had a file on him. She let me read it, that’s how I took the assignment. Now, I know it was a bogus file. He wasn’t wanted for smuggling blood diamonds.” Tony ended his account of events to Tobias, as the FBI agent was there to take his formal statement down.

“Did you see what she did with it after you’ve read it?” Tobias asked as he scribbled in his notebook. The file would establish the link between Shepard and Saunders. It would also give them probable cause to look for more.

“I left it on the conference table.”

Tobias looked over to where Gibbs was standing at the window. “Think she’s dumb enough to still have it in her office?”

Gibbs didn’t move from the window, but shook his head. He was still trying to come to grips with what that bastard had done to Tony. “She would've gotten rid of it.” He took out his phone and dialed Balboa’s number. Abby had taken some personal time and he had made Tim take a few days as well. He waited patiently for the agent to answer. “I need you to go and check in Shepard’s office. There’s a shredder hidden on the left side of her desk. Clean it out and send it over to the FBI. They’ll know what to do.” He ended the call. “Your team will put it all together.”

Tobias nodded his head. “If the file is in there, we don’t need to make a deal with any of them. We’ll have them both.” He grinned at the idea.

“Where is she?” Tony asked for the first time.

“At the moment at a security summit. We’ve got eyes on her, she’s not getting away.” Gibbs moved over to the bed. “You’re in pain.” He noted the lines in Tony’s face.

“I can handle it.” Tony grunted as the pain flashed through his shoulders.

“You’re being stubborn.” Gibbs growled as he pushed the button down so that the self-medication pump could deposit the pain medication into Tony’s system.

“You know I don’t like being loopy.” Tony mumbled, but still sighed in relief as the medication started to work.

“And I don’t like to see you in pain.” Gibbs took Tony’s hand in his, squeezing it hard. “Get some rest. You did good.” He waited for Tony to close his eyes and watched until his lover’s breathing even out before he turned to face his friend. A dark look had settled in his eyes.

“She can’t get away with this, Tobias. I will not hesitate to take things into my own hands should that happen.” He knew Tobias would understand. Gibbs looked at his sleeping lover. “He wants to be there when we arrest her. Says he wants to see the look on her face when the cuffs are tightened around her wrists.”

“I can understand that, but do you want to wait so long before arresting her? You know you’ll have to start making ‘funeral arrangements’ if you want to draw it out for too long.” Fornell closed his notepad and got to his feet. He didn’t not respond to Gibbs’ first comment. He would personally place his federal badge to the side to help Gibbs bring that bitch down.

“Doctor Cross said Tony can be discharged by late tomorrow. All the infection has cleared and the only thing to do is keep all of the incisions clean and that can be done by me or a nurse, but Tony does not need to be in hospital for that.” Gibbs stated as his friend walked towards the door. “He’s ready to go home, Tobias. He’s struggling to sleep with all the nightmares he’s experiencing. He’ll be more comfortable at home. I want to take him home.”

“What if she shows up?”

Gibbs shook his head. “I won’t have her in my house, Tobias. Not after what she has done.”

“Then we’ll need to arrest her before that. I’ll get my people to work on what they found in the shredder on the double.”

“Do that, Tobias. Find that file and arrest her.” Gibbs took the seat next to his sleeping partner and placed his hand over Tony’s. They still had to talk about Tony’s future, but with Jenny Shepard still out there it was impossible to do.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Cynthia frowned when she returned from lunch and saw the director’s office door not completely shut. After she made sure that nothing was disturbed she shrugged her shoulders and went back to her desk. It was quite possible that she’d forgotten to close the door properly this morning after she placed some mail on her boss’ table. She did not see a relieved Balboa sneak pass her door with a sealed evidence bag in his hand.

Stepping down into the bullpen Balboa took out his phone. “I’ve got it. It doesn’t seem like it was emptied recently. There were quite a number of pages in the bin. Enough for more than one file if I had to guess. It will take a while to work through everything.” He grinned. “I’m heading over to the coffee shop now, Gibbs. I’ll place it in Fornell’s team’s hands personally.” He nodded his head. “I’ll make sure the chain of evidence stays intact.” He disconnected the call with a smile on his face. He couldn’t wait to see what the bin contained.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

**The following afternoon**

Abby sniffed hard as she walked to her apartment door. She nearly burst into tears again when she saw Gibbs standing on the other side. “Bossman,” she hiccupped as she hugged him tight.

Gibbs held her close. He knew that the news of Tony’s ‘death’ had totally devastated her. It was going to take a lot more than just Caf-Pows to make it up to her. “Abby, I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything, Boss, just name it.” She used her hands to dry the stray tears from her cheeks.

“I want you to go and pack a bag. You’re staying with me for the next few days.” Gibbs explained. After speaking with Tony both of them decided it was time to bring Tim and Abby into the loop. They were family; they didn't need to be treated as outsiders. The fact that Shepard’s arrest was imminent also made it easier to reach the decision. They would make sure that Abby did not get into contact with Shepard, not that she would tip the woman off, but Abby might attack her and that could cause problems that they didn’t want.

“Sure, Gibbs. Just give me a few minutes.” Abby hugged him again before leaving him in the small living room to go and pack a bag. Gibbs then for the first time noticed the interior of Abby’s living room and his heart ached. Abby had placed photos of Tony everywhere. He couldn’t help but to pick one up. It was one of him and Tony, the younger man was standing next to him, and they were facing one another. Both of them were smiling. It was a beautiful photo of the two of them. He kept the photo in his hand as he moved through the space to look at the other photos as well. He was surprised to see how many Abby had of Tony. Many of the photos depicted Tony with the team. One of Tony and Kate made his heart ache. He smiled as he saw one where Abby was getting a piggyback ride from Tony. Both of them were looking straight into the camera, laughing hard.

“I need to remember him, Gibbs.” Abby spoke up quietly behind him.

Gibbs smiled softly and nodded his head. He looked at the photo he held in his hands. “May I have this one, Abs?”

“Sure.” Abby dried her face again. “Sorry, I’m struggling hard to get myself under control. You don’t need me to be a mess. You’ve got enough things on your plate to deal with.”

This time Gibbs initiated the hug as he pulled her into his embrace. “It’s okay, Abby.” He took her bag from her and led her out of the door. He would drop her off at his house. McGee would be there waiting for them already. He then would head over to the hospital, collect Tony, and bring his partner home.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

“You ready to get out of this place?” Doctor Cross asked as he helped Tony get settled into the wheelchair.

“You’ll take no offense if I say yes, Doc?” Tony replied with a grin.

“None taken, Tony.” Sebastian shook Tony’s hand carefully and then stood to the side. “All yours, Agent Gibbs.”

Gibbs reached out and shook the doctor’s hand. “Thank you.”

“He’ll be all right. Take care of him.” Sebastian turned and exited the room, leaving the two men alone.

Tony smiled. “Let’s go home, please.”

“Good idea.” Gibbs walked behind Tony and started to push the wheelchair, but then Tony pushed out his foot and stopped Gibbs from going forward.

“Something wrong?” Gibbs asked in concern.

Tony looked over his shoulder. “You’re not going to drive this thing like you drive the truck are you, Boss?”

“What’s wrong with my driving?” Gibbs frowned.

“Nothing, except it’s normally done at neck breaking speed.” Tony smiled as Gibbs’ hand collided with the back of his head softly. “Thank you, Boss.”

Gibbs leaned in, tilted Tony’s head back and kissed him hard. “Missed that, did you?”

“You wouldn’t believe how much.” Tony smiled. “Now, we can go home.”

“Yep.” Gibbs pushed the Tony out of the room. He nodded at Pacci who followed behind them.

“Protection detail?” Tony frowned.

“Not taking any chances, Tony. Until she’s arrested, I’m making sure you’re safe.”

Tony remained silent, only nodding his head. He was surprised when Gibbs spoke up behind him. “I owe you an apology, Tony.”

Tony shook his head, but remained quiet as Gibbs placed his hand lightly on his right shoulder. “I mean it, Tony. I’ve got a lot of explaining to do and I’m not going to chicken out of this one.”

Tony remained silent until they reached Gibbs’ truck. He waited for Gibbs to help him into the cab before he spoke up. “You’re right, we need to talk. We both need it.” He kissed Gibbs once and then leaned back in the seat as Gibbs closed the door and got in on the driver’s side.

Gibbs waited until he saw Pacci’s vehicle behind them before he started his truck and drove off. He looked across and wasn’t surprised to see that Tony had dozed off. Doctor Cross had made sure Tony took some of the strong stuff for the trip back home and it had knocked him right out. Gibbs’ eyes traveled over Tony’s body. His partner had lost weight and he was a pale shade of gray. Gibbs was going to make sure Tony get a bit of sunshine in as well. He knew the young man would not say no to that idea. He placed his hand on Tony’s leg; he needed to feel the contact between them. Gibbs cursed as his phone started to ring in his pocket. With one hand he managed to fish the item out and flipped it open. The caller ID showed Fornell’s number. “What do you have?”

 _“And a good afternoon to you as well.”_ Fornell’s voice sounded through the phone.

“Since when do I ever greet?” Gibbs looked over at Tony. He was happy to note that Tony was still asleep.

 _“True, but there can always be a first time for everything.”_ The line remained silent and Fornell knew it was his cue to continue. _“Down to business then. My team has put together the contents of Shepard’s shredder bin. In short – we’ve hit gold. Not only did it contain the bogus file she gave Tony to read, but there was also an in depth file on Saunders in it. It contained all of his personal information, but more than that, it contained all of the jobs she had him do on her behalf. There are quite a number of those, Gibbs.”_ Tobias cleared his throat. _“She also kept what looks like a record of every other job he’d done in his ‘career’. In fact, I’ve got a feeling he would’ve stayed hidden for a long time, but luckily for us, Jenny Shepard became careless, and decided to get rid of that file in her office.”_ He sighed. _“There’s more, Jethro.”_ It sounded like he flipped through some pages. _“For every job that she had him do for her, she made a small note on the reason why she wanted it done. For the job on Tony, she made more than one note, but all of them are about the same. She wanted him gone and wanted you back in her life. She clearly hates Tony with everything in her heart.”_

“Do we have enough to arrest her?” Gibbs gripped the steering wheel hard. He wouldn’t react to what Tobias told him, his anger with the woman would’ve been enough for him to rip her apart with his bare hands.

_“Yes, we do. And we don’t need to make a deal with any of them.”_

“When?”

_“She’s returning from the security summit this afternoon. Your guys up to do it today, or do you want to wait until tomorrow?”_

Gibbs looked over at Tony. The dark circles under his eyes told Gibbs he needed more rest, but he also knew Tony would sleep better if he knew this ordeal was finally behind him and that could only happen with Shepard behind bars. “Today. Let me know where. We’ll be there.” He didn’t wait for Tobias to answer and ended the call. He smirked when Tony spoke up next to him.

“We got enough?”

“Yep.” Gibbs patted Tony’s leg. “But first, we’re going home and you’re getting some rest.”

“Can we stay on the couch and watch movies?” Tony asked even as his eyes threatened to close again.

“As long as you’re resting, I don’t mind.” Gibbs didn’t add that he wanted to do nothing else than stay on the couch with Tony in his arms.

“Good,” Tony managed to mumble before he drifted off to sleep again.

The rest of the trip to their home was done in silence and Gibbs stayed in the truck while Pacci made sure the house was secured before he leaned in and kissed Tony softly. “We're home, ready to go in?”

Tony sighed and slowly opened his eyes. “Think my back will thank me for getting out of this truck.” He hissed as he leaned forward.

“You all right?” Gibbs helped Tony to sit up properly.

“Just a bit stiff, the good stuff is still working.” Tony looked at Pacci standing just outside the front door. “Can we go in?”

“It’s safe. Let's get you settled.” Gibbs exited the truck and helped Tony out on the other side before both men made their way into the house. Gibbs nodded in Pacci’s direction and closed the door behind them and locked it. He shook his head at Tony’s raised eyebrow. “Humor me.”

Tony remained silent as he made his way over to the couch and gently lowered his aching body down. “You going to join me?”

“In a minute. Just need to do something first.” He looked at his phone. He’d received a text from McGee telling him that he and Abby went to the movies just to distract the Goth for a while and that they would be at Gibbs’ home shortly. He managed to text to his junior agent that he was at home and then turned to Tony, frowning as he saw the other man grinning at him. “What?”

“You’re just lazy.” Tony indicated to the phone. “You can text, but you’re just too lazy.”

It was Gibbs’ turn to grin. “I hate phones, you know that.” He took a seat next to Tony on the couch just as his phone chirped. He looked at the text. “They are on their way.”

“Good, I can’t wait to see them.” Tony sighed as he leaned back into the soft cushions. “Abby’s going to be pissed.”

“Ya think?” Gibbs shook his head. “She’s going to be raving mad. I’m going to have to buy Caf-Pows for the next decade before she may even think of forgiving me.”

“She’ll understand, Jethro.” Tony laced his fingers with his lover’s.

“I can only hope she does.” Gibbs looked up as a McGee’s car stopped in the driveway. “I’m going to talk to them outside first. I don’t want her to come in here and injure you.”

“I’ll be all right.” Tony answered, but agreed with Gibbs’ plan. He knew how over excited Abby could become. He kissed Gibbs hard when the older man leaned in for another kiss. He looked on as Gibbs unlocked the front door, walked out and closed it behind him. He could hear Gibbs’ voice mingled with Abby and McGee’s. Tony cringed as he heard Abby squeal and then flesh hitting flesh. He didn’t have to be there to know that Abby just had slapped Gibbs. When he heard her sob, Tony knew it was time to intervene and he slowly got to his feet. Even as he moved towards the door, he could hear her apologizing, but at the same time still sobbing and asking how Gibbs could not have told them.

“Abby,” Tony spoke softly and braced himself as Abby turned and in one move launched herself at him. Never before was he so grateful, then at that movement for Jethro’s fast reflexes as the older man quickly grabbed Abby and slowed her down.

“Careful, he’s still hurting.” Gibbs reminded her softly and then let her go and watched as she wrapped herself around Tony, being as gentle as possible.

Tony hugged her slightly with his right arm, his left pinned to his chest in a bulky sling. “It’s all right, Abby.”

Abby sobbed harder, but managed to nod her head against Tony’s chest. “You’re alive. Can’t believe you’re alive. I understand why, but it still hurts, Tony.” She hiccupped and then pulled herself away to look him in the eyes. “Don’t you ever do that to me again, Mister.” She tried to scowl, but failed.

“I’ll try.” Tony replied as he pulled her to his chest again. He locked eyes with Tim over Abby’s shoulder and smiled. “Good to see you, Probie.”

“You too, Tony.” Tim smiled back as he looked over his shoulder before they moved into the house. He’d seen Pacci’s vehicle across the street and knew it could only be there for protection and nothing else. It made the hair stand up on his neck thinking of the possibility that Tony could still be in danger. He didn’t need Gibbs to tell him to lock the door behind him before he stepped into the living room. Already Abby was helping Tony to sit down on the couch.

“Take a seat, McGee.” Gibbs said next to his youngest agent, nodded his head in pride as Tim un-holstered his firearm and placed it within easy reach.

Between Gibbs and Tony, they managed to fill their two teammates in to what happened. Tim was sure that there were certain things kept from them, but since he could detect that it was in respect to Tony’s health, he didn’t pry. He was happy to note that Abby had settled down and had a small smile on her face as she had laced her fingers with Tony’s. He could see Tony was trying very hard to stay awake, but he was fast losing the battle. “I think it’s time we gave Tony a break, Abby.” He indicated to her where Tony sat with his eyes closed.

Abby nodded her head as she slowly got up from the couch as not to disturb her sleeping friend. “What about _her_?” She asked, her voice laced in anger as she turned to Gibbs.

“The arrest will go down later today. Hopefully it will then be the end.” He replied as he took the thin blanket that was over the back of the couch and covered Tony up.

“Are you going to be there, Gibbs?” Tim asked.

“Yes, not missing that for anything in the world.”

“What about Tony?” Abby frowned as she saw Tony grimaced in his sleep. “Is he in pain?”

Gibbs looked at his watch and grimaced himself. Tony was due his pain medication; it was no wonder he looked like he was in pain. He spoke over his shoulder as he walked towards the kitchen. “He’s coming with when we make the arrest.” He took out the pills and smiled when Abby snatched it out of his hand to read the label herself. He looked on as she shook the two small tablets out in her hand and handed it to him while she plucked a bottle of water out of the fridge.

“Is he going to be safe?”

“I will not let anything happen to him, Abby.” Gibbs kissed her on the head and walked back to where Tim was keeping an eye over his sleeping friend. He crouched before his lover and gently stroked his face until Tony woke up. He was aware that the two youngest members of his team were staring at him, but he couldn’t help it. He nearly lost Tony; he would not let any tender moments pass because of what anyone else might think. He smiled as Tony slowly woke up and looked around before taking the offered pills without any objection. “You all right?”

“Hurts,” Tony mumbled as he swallowed the medication and groaned at the cool water soothing his parched throat. “Sorry,” he added when he saw his two friends staring at him.

“Nothing to be sorry about, Tony. You just got discharged from hospital after being tortured by a madman; of course you’re hurting.” Abby put him at ease as she took the seat next to him again. She took his hand in hers and squeezed it hard. “Gibbs said you are going along for the arrest. Are you sure it’s a good idea?”

Tony nodded his head. “She hired an assassin to not only kill me, but to torture me as well. I need to see the look in her eyes when she realizes that she didn’t win. I need to do this.”

Abby looked at her best friend for a very long time, before she finally nodded her head. “You’re right.”

Tony smiled and then gave a huge yawn, he hated the fact that the pain medication made him sleepy, but they worked and he knew that when he’d wake up in an about an hour he'd been pain free for another few hours. He caught Gibbs looking at him. “Will you take a nap with me?” Gibbs still sported dark rings under his eyes.

“Of course he will.” Abby spoke up as she stood up and pulled Gibbs to his feet. “Don’t worry about me and McGee we'll keep ourselves occupied.” She looked over at Tony’s gaming console. “I want to show Tim who’s boss in Grand Theft Auto.”

Tony laughed and then hissed. “Be careful, Abby. McGame is really good at it.”

McGee blushed at the simple praise and Abby huffed. “He’s not better than me. Come McGee, game on.” She gave Tony a kiss on the cheek and hugged Gibbs hard before turning her attention to the young agent as they set up the game. For the first time since this whole ordeal had started, things started to look up. All was right in her life.

Gibbs shook his head at Abby’s antics, and then gently helped Tony up the stairs and into their bedroom. “Let me help you,” with gentle movements he managed to undo the bulky sling and then took off the button down shirt Tony had on as t-shirts were a no-go for the foreseeable future, as well as the pair of sweats he had on since he was discharged from the hospital. “Better?”

Tony’s nod was the only response, Gibbs got and he was more than satisfied with it. “Good. Let’s take a nap and then I’ll have a look at those shoulders of yours before we head out.” Gibbs rid himself of his own outer shirt and t-shirt before pulling off his own slacks and getting on to the bed with Tony. Tony’s eyes closed and Gibbs smiled as his partner managed to move closer so that his head rested on Gibbs’ chest.

“Love you, Jethro.” Tony mumbled the words and then his breathing evened out and he finally drifted off to sleep.

“Love you, Tony.” Gibbs whispered back and then closed his eyes. Tobias would call when they were ready.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Tony huffed as Gibbs closed the car door behind him and he was alone in the car. It didn't matter how many times he’d tried to argue with Gibbs that he’d be safe, his partner blankly refused that he got out of the car until they’d placed Shepard under arrest. Tony looked on as Gibbs met up with Pacci, Balboa and Tobias. All four men shook hands and started talking. Tony couldn’t hear them, but he was sure they were talking about the case. He wondered how long they had to wait before the arrest would happen. They parked a few blocks away from Shepard's home, but Tobias had one of his agents stationed just outside of her home in an unmarked vehicle. The agent would let them know when she arrived. They would then move in and only then, Tony would be allowed to get out. Tony’s shoulders ached; the pain medication was reaching its limit and he wished he took a few of the less effective ones. He frowned as Gibbs separated from the group and made his way back to the car. Tony looked on as Gibbs opened the passenger door and leaned in to give Tony a quick kiss. “Something wrong?”

“Thought you might need these,” Gibbs placed his hand into his trouser pocket and took out two small tablets.

“How did you know?” Tony asked as he took the offered medication and sighed when Gibbs reached over him to get him a bottle of water.

“Years of practice,” Gibbs joked as he watched at waited for Tony to swallow the pills.

Tony rolled his eyes and took another swallow of the water before closing the bottle again, but kept it on his lap, as he didn’t want to lean across to place it back again. “Do we have an idea how long?”

“She’s on her way, no longer than ten minutes.” Gibbs replied as he watched Tony lean back against the seat and he could see the younger man start to relax. “You up for this?”

“Not missing this for the world.” Tony rested his eyes and waited for the painkillers to kick in.

Gibbs stayed at the car and when Fornell called out to him, he knew it was time to go. “You ready?” He asked as Tony opened his eyes.

“Let’s go.” Tony managed to right himself in his seat and waited patiently for Gibbs to buckle him in before they slipped in behind Fornell’s car, with Balboa and Pacci behind him. “Are you doing the arrest, Jethro?”

Gibbs shook his head. “Fornell will do the arrest as the FBI has the _official_ lead on this investigation, but I'll be right there to hand him the cuffs.”

Tony smiled. “I can’t wait to see the look on her face when she realizes that her plan did not work.”

“Me too.” He gave Tony’s knee a squeeze. “Then we’re going home and we’re going to talk. I still owe you an apology.”

For a moment Tony thought of just shrugging everything aside, but he knew Gibbs was right. They had to talk. “And then we can have some make up sex afterwards.” He grinned at the idea.

“You sure about that?” Gibbs arched his brow.

“Why not?” Tony frowned. “My body might be bruised and my shoulders might be a tad fucked up, but there’s nothing wrong with my libido.”

“I’m not talking about your libido, Tony, but please explain to me how you want to have sex?” Gibbs couldn’t wait for the answer.

“The normal way, you know. You pounding into me until I’m a puddle of sex goo. You got it?” Tony groaned as the mere thought of having Gibbs’ cock inside of him made him hard.

Gibbs had to smile. To the average person Tony would seem normal, but to him it was clear that Tony was under the influence of pain medication and a bit slow on the uptake. “Hands and knees?”

This time Tony groaned harder. “Hands and knees? Yes, definitely, hands and knees.”

Gibbs knew it was time to make Tony realize that sex was not on the table, not the normal hot kind of sex in any case. “We can’t, Tony. Not with those shoulders of yours.”

For a moment Tony frowned and then he realized what Gibbs meant. “We’ll try something else.” He sounded positive.

“We’ll do, but only for as long as it doesn’t place any pressure on those shoulders of yours.” Gibbs agreed and then stopped as they reached their destination and smirked as Tony groaned again. “That for me?” He looked over at the bulge that showed clearly through Tony’s slacks.

Tony managed to palm at his growing erection with his right hand. “Bastard,” he growled, but said it with a smile. 

“I’ll take care of that for you later on.” Gibbs leaned in and kissed Tony hard. “In the meantime, I’d suggest that you think of something really nasty unless you want everyone to notice that.”

For Tony it would’ve been an easy choice to show everyone around just what influence Gibbs had on him, but they were still professionals and being professional, meant that some things just had to stay private. Instead, he closed his eyes and thought about the first and only time he walked into his father having sex. Tony sighed and opened his eyes as the image did its work and his erection went down. He couldn’t help but to shiver. He knew his father was a man like any other, and that meant having a lively libido, but no son had to walk into that, especially not at the age of twenty.

When he finally got his erection down, they had stopped in front of Shepard’s home and it was only then that Tony realized that Gibbs made him all hot and bothered to get him from stressing. He leaned over and caught Gibbs’ mouth in a kiss. “Thank you.”

Gibbs gave him a small grin. “It’s going to be all right. You ready?” He waited for Tony’s nod before he exited the car and walked around to Tony’s side. By the time he helped Tony out of the car, Balboa was next to them, and Fornell was waiting for Gibbs to join him on the stairs. “Let’s do this.” He kissed Tony again, not giving a damn about who saw them. He left Tony with Balboa and made his way over to Tobias.

Tobias couldn’t help but to grin at the look on Gibbs' face. His best friend for almost twenty-five years deserved being happy and you didn’t get any happier than what Gibbs was right now. “You two need a moment?” He teased the grin still firmly on his face.

Gibbs only rolled his eyes. “Jealous, much, Tobias?” He shook his head. “Let’s do this.”

“Ha-ha.” Tobias straightened his tie and then walked the few steps up to the front door. He waited for Gibbs to join him before his knuckles rapped against the heavy door. He didn’t have to wait long for the housekeeper to open up. He showed her his badge and she ushered them in. “Director Shepard is in her study.” She started to lead them to the room, but Tobias stopped her.

“We’ll find the way, thank you.” He waited until she nodded her head and disappeared within the large home before he made his way over to the closed door. He only knocked once before entering, not even waiting for an invite.

Jennie looked up with a frown as the door to her study opened suddenly. She was surprised to see Fornell standing in the door, Gibbs at his shoulder.

“Agent Fornell, Jethro.” She managed to keep her voice steady as both men entered the room. Suddenly the large area felt very small. “Is there something wrong? Can I help, Jethro?” She walked around the desk and approached them at the door.

Gibbs had to bite hard down on his tongue in an attempt to keep calm. Seeing her standing in front of him, the fake look of concern on her face made him want to hit her with a fist, it didn't even matter that she was a woman.

Tobias saw her reaching out to touch Jethro's arm and he moved in between them. “We’re here in an official capacity, Madam Director.”

“Oh?” She looked up and took a step back when she saw the look in Gibbs’ eyes.

Gibbs reached behind him, pulled the handcuffs from the back of his trousers and handed them over to Tobias who moved in behind the Director. He couldn’t help but to smile as Tobias clipped the cuffs around her wrists.

“I’m arresting you on conspiracy to commit murder. On attempted murder as well as murder. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…” Shepard blocked out the words as she lifted her chin and met Gibbs’ icy gaze.

“You will never prove anything.” She sneered.

Gibbs cocked his head and smiled. “We have enough proof already.” He stepped to the side and watched as Tobias marched her to the front door. He followed in their footsteps.

Tobias opened the door and led her out into the fading daylight. He grinned as she stumbled over her own feet the moment they stepped outside. Right at the bottom of the steps stood Tony. His face covered in bruises, his left arm strapped underneath the button down shirt he was wearing, but he stood tall. He walked her down and when they reached the place where Tony stood, she halted. He wasn’t surprised to see that Balboa, Pacci and Gibbs, who stepped out behind them, went to stand right next to Tony. Tobias could feel her shake as he held onto her elbow.

Shepard looked at the agent that stood before her and for the first time since she set her plans in motion she had regret. She slowly shook her head. “I should’ve killed you myself.” It didn’t matter to her who heard her, it was the truth. She smirked at the look of anguish on DiNozzo’s face at her words before Fornell pulled her away. She didn’t look back as he marched her over to the black sedan, neither did she look in his direction as she was placed in the back of the vehicle and it drove off.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Gibbs could see that Tony was more affected by Shepard’s actions than what he was letting on. Sure, for a moment, you could see the hurt on Tony’s face, but then one of ever present masks slid in place and now not even he who had known Tony the longest, could detect that the man next to him was distraught in any way.

“Let’s go home, Tony.” He took Tony’s hand and gently led him to their car. It was strange for Tony to be silent for so long and he could only hope that Tony would talk to him soon. Gibbs had to suppress a snort at his thoughts. Tony loved talking, but he rarely talked about what was really bothering him. He could count the number of times on his one hand Tony talked seriously about something. He knew he was even worse. But, this time, things had to be different. Not only for Tony’s sake, but also for both of them.

“Gibbs?” Balboa asked in concern. He and Pacci looked on as their friend led a very subdued Tony to the parked vehicle.

Gibbs shook his head. “I’ll be in touch later.” He turned and focused on Tony again. He opened the passenger door and helped Tony into the car. “Watch your head,” he placed his hand at the back of Tony’s head and guided the silent man into the seat. He frowned when he even managed to buckle Tony in without any complaints. Gibbs placed a kiss on Tony’s temple before he made his way over to the driver’s side. He got into the car, started it and drove off. He wanted to reach for his phone to call Ducky, but decided against it. He didn’t need Tony to get agitated. He did however phone Timothy and kept the conversations short. He didn’t think it was a good idea for Tim and Abby to be around when they arrived home. He had no idea how Tony would react once he got out of his own head.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Tony was aware of the fact that he was behaving out of character, but at that moment, he couldn’t care. Seeing _her_ again after the last time, seeing the hate in her eyes directed at him, made him wonder just how bad of a person he was for someone to hate him like that. He always tried to make sure that people around him liked him, always tried to make them smile, to make sure he put them at ease. He couldn’t understand why. It made him doubt himself, made him wonder how many other people hated him, but just didn’t show it. Just how bad was he really?

He was unaware of the noises he made until Gibbs’ hand on his thigh and his voice in his ears finally brought him back to the present. “Gibbs?” He looked around them. They were on the side of the road, Gibbs’ looking at him with concern.

He dragged his hand over his face and hissed at the pull on his shoulder. He was going to hurt seriously later on. His mouth was dry and he wished he had some water to drink. He frowned as the bottle appeared before him.

“You spoke out loud,” Gibbs’ explanation came from next to him.

He took the bottle and drank deeply. The cool water soothed his parched throat and he couldn’t help sighing. “I’m fucked up,” the words surprised him and he bowed his head out of shame.

Gibbs placed his arm carefully around Tony’s shoulders and pulled him closer. “You might be a bit banged up at the moment, but you’re definitely not fucked up, Tony.” He knew he failed to lighten the moment when Tony only sighed. “We’ll get through this, Tony. You’re not alone; I’ve got your six.” He cringed when his words made Tony tense. He didn’t need Tony’s words to know what his lover was thinking of. He didn’t have his six. He’d dropped the ball on this one.

Gibbs cleared his throat, but Tony beat him to the punch. “I understand,” he still sounded despondent.

Gibbs closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them again, they were full of determination. “I’ve disappointed you, Tony, and I know you don’t feel like you’re able to trust me one-hundred percent, but I promise you, I will work very hard in gaining your trust again.”

At first, Tony wanted to deny Gibbs’ statements, but then he nodded his head. Gibbs was correct, and it wouldn’t have been fair to both of them, if Tony denied it. “We really need to talk.” He closed his eyes again. He just wished everything could go back to the way it was.

“Me, too, Tony.” Gibbs replied to the statement and as Tony jerked, he realized that his lover once again didn’t realize he spoke aloud. He placed his hand on Tony’s thigh again and started the truck up again before pulling back into the road.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Tony was still groggy when Gibbs helped him into their home. He wasn’t aware that he’d managed to drift off to sleep in the truck. Tony didn’t voice an objection when he was helped straight to bed and tucked in. He felt emotionally drained. “Jethro,” he spoke up and lifted his head as his lover moved towards the door. “Stay,” he mumbled as his eyes drifted close again.

Gibbs obeyed the plea, toed off his shoes and settled on the bed next to Tony’s side. He sighed in content as the younger man shuffled closer to him. He placed his hand on the back of Tony’s hand and gently massaged his scalp. He smiled when it sounded like Tony purred. Gibbs leaned back against the headboard and closed his eyes.

It was the continued ringing of his phone that pulled him out of his slumber. Gibbs reached blindly for the phone he placed on the nightstand. He grunted out in greeting.

 _“Bad time, Jethro?”_ Tobias’ voice drifted through.

“No, didn’t mean to fall asleep.” Gibbs got to his feet, took a quick look at the man still sleeping next to him and exited the room quickly. “What do you have?”

 _“She lawyered up - refused to say a word.”_ He sounded frustrated. They still had the confession of Saunders, as well as all of the other evidence that tied her up, but they would’ve loved to hear her side.

Gibbs remained silent. “She’ll talk to me.” He knew her; she would love to brag about what she did, more importantly, why she did it.

 _“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Jethro.”_ Tobias knew his friend. It would go badly very quickly, and he didn’t know if he would have it in him to pull Gibbs off the mad woman should his friend decide to strangle her to death.

“None of us want this to go on trial. I’m not letting Tony go through that extended drama, if I can get her to open up, then that is what I will do.” Gibbs firmly stated.

_“You know she’s only going to milk the situation, Jethro. I’m not willing to scrape brains and blood from the wall if you lose your temper._

Gibbs huffed. “I think I’m past the point of wanting to put my hands on her and since weapons are not allowed inside the interrogation rooms, I would say it’s safe.” Tobias didn’t reply, but Gibbs knew his friend was thinking very hard about his offer.

 _“Let me talk to my director, I’ll get back to you.”_ Tobias finally answered. He sighed. _“And, Gibbs, stop smirking.”_ He ended the call.

Gibbs continued smiling.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Tony woke up with the smell of freshly baked bread and he couldn’t help but to smile. Few people knew that Jethro could bake bread. It was something that he only did on rare occasions, but it was worth the while to wait patiently for his partner to get that loaf out of the oven. He smiled as he heard Jethro’s footsteps coming up the stairs and looked on as his lover entered the room. He had a plate with slices of bread on it, smothered in butter and nothing else.

“I can’t remember the last time you baked bread.” He said with a grin as he managed to sit up with Jethro’s help.

He looked on as Gibbs smiled. “It’s been a while; I thought it was time again.” Gibbs held the plate so that Tony could take the bread and placed the small plate on the bed before sitting down himself.

Tony sighed. “It’s good,” he spoke up after his first bite. “I hope you baked at least two.”

Gibbs chuckled. “I did, at least then I’m assured that I’ll get a slice or two for myself.” He moved fast to avoid the slap Tony aimed at his shoulder. He leaned in and pressed his lips softly against Tony’s mouth. “I love you,” he whispered the words before kissing Tony properly.

Tony let go of the slice of bread in favor of kissing the man he loved. He pressed forward and found himself melting as Gibbs deepened the kiss. He groaned as Gibbs’ hands found his hair and gripped it tight. His cock twitched at the sensation. He made a sound that could only be described as a whimper when the man he loved pulled away. “No stopping,” he leaned forward again.

“We need to talk.” Gibbs moved his body so that he sat with his back against the headboard and gently pulled Tony closer so that his partner could rest with his head on his chest.

“Talk is overrated,” Tony grinned, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“That’s supposed to be my line.” Gibbs took Tony’s hand in his. “And you know it’s not fair to us, and definitely not fair to you. We need to talk, Tony.”

Tony lowered his eyes. He knew he’d agreed that they had to talk, but suddenly he didn’t want to. What if Gibbs sided with Shepard? What if he thought that because of Tony’s injuries he didn’t want to be in a relationship any longer? He bit hard into his lower lip.

“You can stop that now,” Gibbs’ thumb brushed over Tony’s pinched lip.

Tony remained silent. He knew Gibbs hated it when he became quiet like this, but he found himself insecure, something that he never felt while with the man next to him.

Gibbs cleared his throat and placed his hand on the back of Tony’s head, massaging his head and then he spoke up. “I was still a wet behind the ears NIS agent when I was partnered with a new probie. Jenny Shepard. She had some good instincts and we made a good team.” Gibbs took a deep breath. “We became friends, and later we became lovers.” He could feel how tense Tony became as he continued to talk, but he pushed on.

“We had a mission in Paris,” Gibbs paused. He didn’t expect it to be so difficult to explain. He knew his words were going to hurt Tony and he had no idea if he’d be in a position to fix it. He looked down when Tony’s hand curled around his. It gave him the strength he needed. “I proposed to her.” Tony’s grip on his hand grew tighter. “I proposed and she said yes.” He snorted. “Then we got back to the States and she changed her mind. It was then that I realized that her career came first; that in a way she used me as a stepping-stone to further herself in the agency. For a long time, we were only cordial to one another, but both of us mellowed and we became friends again. I escorted her to different functions for a couple of years. When you told me that she acted strange towards you, even hostile, I didn’t want to believe you. I thought that she was just insecure, or that you might even a bit intimidated by her. I mean I thought I knew her that she wouldn’t act that way, but I was wrong. I should’ve taken more notice of what was going on. You were not the one to blame, you were not intimidated by her, she changed and not for the good.” Gibbs sighed. “Because I didn’t want to confront her, you got hurt. She nearly managed to get you killed and I don’t know what I would’ve done if that happened.” Gibbs turned and cupped Tony’s face. “I am sorry, please forgive me.”

Tony could hear the anguish in his lover’s voice. He had no doubt that the man next to him was indeed remorseful for what happened. Tony was aware that it wasn’t Gibbs’ fault that Jenny went off her rocker, or that she decided that the best course of action should be to kill him. Still it hurt. It hurt more than he thought it would. He trusted Gibbs with his life. He trusted the man more than he trusted himself, but he couldn’t help to feel betrayed. It felt like Gibbs had brushed his concerns to the side, as if they were nothing, but it turned out more than nothing. She had contracted out his life to a professional assassin. It was clear that she meant business and that she was prepared to do anything to get Jethro back.

“Tony?” Gibbs spoke up. He hated that his partner stayed quiet for so long.

Tony shook his head. He’d thought he was ready to deal with this, to talk to the man next to him, but he couldn’t. Not now. Tony managed to sit up straight on the bed. He didn’t look at Gibbs as he turned his back on the man he loved. “I need time to think.” His voice nearly disappeared at the end and he tensed up when a hand was placed softly at the back of his head as he tried to get to his feet.

“Stay, I’ll leave you be.” Gibbs managed to say as he got up from the bed. He walked around and came to a halt in front of Tony. He lifted Tony’s chin with his finger and cringed at the wounded look he saw on his lover’s face. “I understand.” He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Tony’s lips before he stepped back and made his way out of the room.

Tony lowered his head in his hands and hissed as the wounds on his shoulders protested at the action. He sat up straight and managed to get wobbly to his feet. He didn’t go far, merely made his way over to the large window and pulled the curtain away. The view before him was of the backyard and he smiled. He and Jethro both loved working in the soil. Raking leaves in autumn, cutting the grass in summer was always done with the minimum fuss. He blushed at the thought of how many times they’d fooled around out there as well. More than once he walked bowlegged for a day or two if Gibbs took him in the garden. It was worth every little ache he felt. Tony leaned against the windowpane and closed his eyes. He really had a lot to think about.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Gibbs reached for his phone even before it rang out properly. “Tobias,” he answered gruffly.

“You and Tony had a lot to talk about. By the sound of your voice, it didn’t go too well.”

Gibbs didn’t reply, but he raised his head and looked up towards the bedroom. He had no idea what Tony was doing and it killed him to be down there instead of with Tony, but he knew Tony needed his space. “What did your Director have say?” He ignored his friend’s opening words. By the silence that greeted him, Gibbs knew that Tobias wanted to add something else, but he was grateful when his friend stuck to their conversation topic.

_“He actually thinks you may have the ability to end this. He also said that if you killed her, we’re denying that we ever let you in.”_

“At what time to I need to be there?” He could hear Tobias whispering to someone else.

_“Half an hour, that all right?”_

“I’ll be there.” Gibbs didn’t bother to say goodbye, instead, he ended the call and took a deep breath. He wanted to take the coward’s way out and just leave, but it would not make things better between himself and Tony. He took the stairs two by two and came to a halt inside their bedroom door. Before he could speak, Tony beat him to the punch.

“Just don’t kill her.”

Tony’s voice was deprived of any emotion and it hurt Gibbs to hear it like that. “I don’t have to go.”

“Yeah, you do.” Tony didn’t turn from where he still stood and stared out of the window.

Gibbs opened his mouth, but he had no words. He closed it again, turned to walk out but then stopped. “I love you, Tony.” He didn’t wait for a reply, just kept on walking.

Tony turned and stared at the place his lover stood just a few seconds ago. “Love you, Jet.” He made his way back to their bed and lowered himself gently. He was still hurt, but he realized one thing. Even if Jethro believed him, they had no guarantee that she wouldn’t have done something like this in any case. He couldn’t be angry with Jethro, it was not his fault. Tony leaned back against the stacked pillows. When Jethro came back, he would clear the air. He had more important things to worry about. Tony looked down at his left arm. He tried to make a fist, but his hand refused to obey the simple command. He closed his eyes and couldn’t stop his eyes from stinging as he tried desperately not to cry - not to give up hope.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Gibbs wasn’t surprised to find Tobias waiting for him outside the Hoover building. He made his way over to where his friend stood and took the offered cup of coffee with a grunt.

“The lawyer is with her right now. They’re having a shouting match about Shepard agreeing to speak with you.” Tobias held open the door and walked in after Gibbs.

Gibbs didn’t respond. He signed himself in as a visitor, handed in his sidearm and backup firearm as required and made his way over to the elevators as he pinned the visitor badge to his chest. The two men got in and rode in silence as the elevator took them down towards the holding cells. He could hear them arguing even as they stepped off the elevator. He tossed his empty cup into a bin and made his way over to the closed door. Gibbs didn’t bother to knock. He pushed the door open and stood there in silence. When the lawyer and Shepard turned to look at him, he kept his gaze on the woman he loved so many years ago, but addressed the suit. “Out.” He stepped to the side and waited for the man to exit. He arched his brow as the man tried to say something but when _she_ repeated the same word, the lawyer finally left. Gibbs shut the door and walked deeper into the room. He ignored the chair on the one side of the table and remained standing. “Why?”

“How are you, Jethro?” Jenny ignored the question.

“Why?” Gibbs demanded.

A small smile appeared on Jenny’s face. “First answer my question, and I will answer yours.”

“I’m not here for your games, Jenny. Answer my questions and I will make sure you don’t get the death penalty.” He slammed his hand against the table.

Jenny shook her head. “And what will poor Tony say when he hears you’ve pleaded for my life?” She smirked.

Gibbs growled. “You will address him as Special Agent DiNozzo; you have no right to call him by his name.”

“Please,” she rolled her eyes. “He’s not worthy of that title. He’s a glorified whore - one who spread his legs and you fell for it.” She looked him up and down and smirked. Her words had the required effect on the man standing across from her. “I tried to do you a favor, but you’re still blinded by him.” Jenny sighed. “I can only hope that your eyes will open soon.”

Tony’s words kept him from moving forward. He could see himself reaching across the table and squeezing the life from her. It would be so easy. Gibbs closed his eyes for a second and centered himself. “Why?” He commanded.

Jenny was disappointed - she wanted Jethro to react. She wanted him to lose his temper; she needed to feel his hands on her, even if it was out of anger. “You agree with me.” She lifted her chin in defiance. Jenny continued when Jethro remained silent. “You deserve so much more. He is a clown. You were never one who fell for such behavior; he must really be good in bed.” Her voice became smoky. “I am better. You know that.”

Gibbs became rigid as he listened to her comments. He slowly moved around the table and took position in behind her. Without touching her, he whispered something in her ear, stood back and looked on.

The color drained from her face and her hands started to shake. She swallowed hard.

“Why?!” Gibbs bellowed and smiled as she jumped with fright.

“Because you are mine!” She roared and tried to leap to her feet. The cuffs that held her to the table, made her slump back in defeat. “You’re mine.” She sobbed. “Everything I did, I did it to get to you. To rectify my mistakes, to make sure you and I got together again. I made sure that Diane was under the impression that she was never good enough for you.” She smirked. “It was good when she emptied your bank account.” Jenny looked up and continued. “Rebecca was insecure from the beginning, making her grab the bottle was so easy and Stephanie, where do I begin with her? The talks we had about you - I really wish you could have heard them.” She laughed aloud. “Every time a woman looked in your direction, I made sure they only looked once, but I was too late this time. You had only eyes for _him_. I underestimated him, Jethro. I should’ve gotten rid of him long before I was Director, but I stupidly thought that once you laid eyes on me again, you’d dump him. I was wrong. I failed myself.” She bowed her head.

Gibbs looked at her with contempt in his eyes. “Jealously? That’s it?”

“You are mine! I killed for you; I made sure I kept on killing until I was back in the same city, in the same building as you. You belong to me. I would do it all over again.”

Gibbs looked at her for a very long time, not saying a word. Finally, he moved to the door, opened it and walked out, not looking back once.

When Jethro exited, Jenny started to scream and she couldn’t stop, not even to take the next breath of air. Her world had ended.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Gibbs stopped in his tracks when he entered the house and found Tony waiting for him in the small hallway. For a moment, he feared that Tony was leaving him, but he saw no suitcase and Tony was still dressed in sweatpants only, his feet bare.

“I’m sorry.” Tony broke the silence that surrounded them. He waited for Gibbs to get next to him before he turned and walked into the living room.

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry about.” Gibbs didn’t quote any rule. He was happy to note that Tony took his usual seat on the couch, and Gibbs sat down next to him. He sighed softly as Tony gently placed himself against his chest. He placed his hand over Tony’s and squeezed it hard.

“I didn’t need time to think, I was just an ass.” Tony lowered his head. “I think I’m fucked.”

“I know you’re not, on both aspects.” Gibbs placed a kiss on the top of Tony’s head.

“I want them dead.”

“And yet, you’ll be the first to plea for their lives.” Gibbs carefully hugged Tony closer to his side.

“What if?” Tony didn’t complete the question and Gibbs remained quiet. Tony needed to work things out for himself.

Gibbs looked on as Tony’s hand travelled to his chest. A set of smaller dressings covered his nipples, the large bandage removed. He placed his hand directly over the one nipple and pressed down. Not once did he wince in pain.

“I can’t feel anything. I know this is supposed to be sore, I’m even stitched up but there’s nothing. I can feel the dressing, under my fingers, but I can’t even feel where it’s stuck to my skin.” He dragged his hand over the area again, this time harder as it if would make him feel.

Gibbs gently took his hand in his and lowered it to Tony’s lap. He kissed Tony on the temple. His lover shivered slightly.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do if I can’t go back to field work, Jethro.”

Gibbs had no idea how to respond. He tried not to think about it, but unfortunately, it had crossed his mind more than once. He even had a brief discussion with Ducky. “Okay, worst case scenario, you’re unable to go back in the field then what?” He didn’t give Tony a chance to respond, but continued. “You’re the best in undercover work. FLETC will welcome you warmly as an instructor. You can be a consultant for all of the alphabet agencies, and of course you can finally take one of the many directors’ posts you’ve been offered.”

“You really thought about it.”

“Not because I don’t want you as my second in command, Tony. Just like you, I tried to ignore it, but it is a possibility, and we cannot ignore it.” He didn’t add that it was the same advice Ducky gave him when they talked.

“I’m not ready to be a pencil pusher. I want to solve cases, help people.” Tony closed his eyes. His hands travelled back to his covered chest. “I won’t make it if I’m sidelined, Jethro.” He looked up. “I wanted to get them pierced for you as a birthday present.” He lowered his head. “Now I can’t stand looking at them anymore.” Tony balled his fists. “He took something that was sexy away from me, from us. He might not have raped me, but this, just thinking about it, it makes it just as bad.” He shook his head. “Sorry, I’m being silly. Forget it.”

Gibbs shook his head. “You’re not being silly. You have the right to feel that way. But, I have to add, the surgeons did a good job. Yes, there is scarring and it will always be visible, but you cannot let that define you. Your nipples didn’t make you sexy; you’re just as sexy as before.” He proved his point by kissing Tony hard, not letting up until Tony melted against him. He pulled away with a grin on his face. Tony’s face was flushed, his pupils dilated and he breathed hard. “Just like this.” He made a mental note to talk to Abby and Ducky. Maybe there was a chance that Tony could still have his nipples pierced.

“Thank you.” Tony nestled against his lover’s side.

“No need to thank me, Tony.” Gibbs kissed Tony again. “I love you, Anthony DiNozzo.”

Tony couldn’t help but to grin. “Love you too, Leroy Jethro Gibbs.” They shared another kiss before Tony leaned back against the older man’s side again. For the first time since this nightmare started, he felt at peace.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

**Three weeks later**

Tony frowned as his lover drove deeper into down town. “This is not the way to the hardware store, Jethro.”

“Mm,” was the only reply he got from the man behind the wheel.

“Where are we going?” Tony couldn’t help to inquire. He had no idea what Gibbs was up to, and he couldn’t help but to be a bit apprehensive.

Gibbs must’ve sensed his discomfort, as the older man gave him a quick smile and squeezed his thigh in a reassuring manner. “You’ll see.” He looked out of the windscreen to see if he could spot the place. “Abby said it was in this block.”

“Abby?” Tony asked in surprise. “We’re going to a place Abby recommended, Jethro? You, willingly?” He chuckled but started mentally to go through a list of places Jethro might go on Abby’s say so. He came up empty. He looked out of the side window. “Are we there yet?” He laughed and rubbed the back of his head when the slap landed with deadly accuracy. Jethro didn’t even take his eyes of the road to deliver the blow. He looked on as the truck finally slowed down and pulled into an empty parking spot. Tony looked at the different shops around them, but nothing yelled out Abby. He got out when Jethro got out as well.

“Do you trust me?” Gibbs asked as he pulled Tony to his side.

“With my life.” Tony replied without any hesitation.

“Good,” Gibbs leaned in and placed a kiss on Tony’s mouth before pulling back again. “I’ll explain when we’re inside.” He took his partner’s hand and led him towards a non-descript shop. The sidewalk window was darkened but not painted black, which gave it an elegant look. The door opened silently and Tony stopped in his tracks as they entered through the door and he saw where they were.

Gibbs immediately said to him. “Trust me,” he repeated his earlier words again and squeezed Tony’s hand before walking to the reception desk. “My name is Gibbs; we’ve got an appointment with Aaron.”

The young man behind the counter indicated with his head to the back of the shop. “Go on through, he’s expecting you.” He didn’t watch them go, but bend down and continued with a sketch what looked to Tony liked two dragons entwined.

Gibbs held on to Tony’s hand as they made their way to the back of the shop. A man, well over six foot, obviously fit with arms the size of logs turned and smiled as they came closer. “Agent Gibbs, good to see you again.” He reached out and shook Gibbs’ hands. He turned his attention to Tony. “You must be very Special Agent Tony DiNozzo. Abby can’t stop talking about you.” He shook Tony’s hand as well and indicated to some chairs for them to sit on.

“What’s going on?” Tony addressed Gibbs.

“Aaron is a friend of Abby’s.” Gibbs started to explain. “After you told me what you wanted to do for my birthday, I spoke to Abby and she referred me to Aaron.” Gibbs held up his hand when his lover wanted to interrupt. “Hear me out, please. Talk to Aaron yourself and then decide.”

Tony bit down on his bottom lip, he could feel the sting of his action but he couldn’t get himself to release his lip. Only when his lover gently placed his thumb against his lip did he let it go. He looked over at Aaron and then at Gibbs. His gut turned and his heart thumped. Tony closed his eyes and tried to center himself. Finally, he opened his eyes again. “I’m listening.”

“Thank you.” Gibbs smiled. “We know you’ve got no feeling in your nipples and that you no longer feel sexy, but you’re still sexy to me. More than just sexy. The fact that you say you can’t feel anything, made me wonder, and that’s the reason why I went and talked to Abby. You might not be able to feel the piercings on your skin, but you will still see the piercings underneath your clothes and when you’re naked and it will make you aware of it. It will be a reminder to yourself that you’re still sexy and that _I_ find you sexy as hell.”

“I never thought of it in that way.” Tony sounded surprised.

“You’ll also be able to still watch when Agent Gibbs plays with them; hopefully that visual affect will also help.” Aaron spoke from the side. He looked at the two men and then continued. “Abby didn’t tell me exactly what happened, but from what she said, I gathered that it was a very traumatic incident, and it’s understandable that you’ll have negative feelings about what had happened, and the loss that you’re experiencing. But, she also told me that you’re a very positive person, so why would you let something like this knock you down?”

Tony looked at him and then at Aaron. “What about the aftercare? I mean, I can’t feel if there’s anything wrong with the piercings.”

“But once again, you can still see it. You’ll still be on the lookout for any signs of infection. Yes, you’ll have to be more careful when doing stuff so that it doesn’t rip out and you don’t notice it, but other than that, I can’t see why you can’t go ahead and pierce your nipples.” Aaron got a sly grin on his face. “I think you’ll look sexy with piercings as well.” He laughed hard when Gibbs growled at him and held up his hands. “Just saying, that’s all.”

Tony couldn’t help but to blush. He met Gibbs’ gaze. “Rings or barbells?”

Gibbs frowned and Aaron answered. “Barbells. They are flat against the skin and it lessens the risk of getting caught onto something and ripped out.” He got up and walked to the side where he pulled a small jewelry box. He handed it to Gibbs. “Abby ordered this just after she spoke to me. She said that you’d pay for it.”

Tony snorted. “She’s very positive.”

“She knows you, Tony.” Gibbs handed the small box to Tony and waited for his lover to open it up.

“Wow,” Tony reached to pick it up, but Aaron stopped him.

“Let’s keep it as sterile as possible for now.” He handed Tony a pair of gloves and grinned when he saw Tony snap them on with ease.

Tony took out the barbell and placed it in his open palm. “Titanium?”

“Platinum.”

Tony laughed and Gibbs sputtered, but both men continued to stare at the simple designed barbell. The smooth shaft was made from platinum as Aaron already explained, while the two removable end-pieces consisted out of a ruby and an amethyst, their birthstones. It was brilliant in its simplicity and elegance.

“I will disinfect your nipples, and I will also use a numbing spray on it. I know you don’t have any feeling in your nipple area, but better safe than sorry.” Aaron explained as he gathered his tools and showed to Tony and Gibbs what he was going to do.

“Let’s do this.” Tony stood up and with his lover’s help rid himself of his shirt. He was grateful for the fact that Aaron ignored the scars that decorated his shoulders and back. Tony found himself to be at ease with the man’s pleasant demeanor and before long, his nipples were pierced. Tony itched to touch them, but kept his hands to himself, they looked beautiful and by the glint in Jethro’s eyes, his lover thought the same.

“Thank you, Aaron.” Tony shook the piercer’s hand and dressed again. He listened as the man explained how they should care for the piercings and made a promise to call him if they had any questions. When they moved towards the door that separated the back of the shop with the front, Aaron placed a bracing hand on Tony’s shoulder. He had a silly grin on his face.

“You do look sexy.” He didn’t give Tony a chance to respond, but retrieved another small box from the drawer where he got the first one. “This one is also from Abby. Already paid for and she said I should tell you, that you’ll enjoy it and Gibbs even more.”

Tony frowned as he opened the box and blushed again. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Guiche piercing?” Aaron asked. “Yes, indeed. I have a feeling that Agent Gibbs will more than just growl at me, but I will put it in for you, when you’re ready. You have the perfect body for piercings, Tony and although like the nipple piercings it will be hidden, you will still wear them with pride. Of that I’m sure.”

Tony could only shake his head. He thanked Aaron again, pushed the small box into his jeans’ pocket and then joined Gibbs at the reception where Gibbs just finished paying. He shook his head when Gibbs arched an eyebrow. “I’ll tell you later.”

Gibbs only nodded in agreement and the two of them excited the store. “You okay?”

“I am actually, yes.” Tony was relaxed. “Let’s get home.” He didn’t add that he wanted to check his piercings out, although he couldn’t feel them, he could feel the piercings against the surgical tape that covered them up for the next few hours. He would remove it when he cleaned the sites and would leave it open for the night, until he could cover it up in the morning. The climbed into the truck and in comfortable silence they drove home.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

Gibbs twirled the little ring between his fingers. Since Tony showed it to him and explained what it was, he couldn’t get the image of the ring buried beneath Tony’s skin out of his head. He could imagine playing with the ring with his fingers and his tongue, driving Tony up the wall and he groaned. The mere thought of it made him hard.

He looked up and his eyes grew large as Tony walked towards him. His lover’s upper body was bare, he’d removed the coverings over the piercings and with the lighting in the room, the gems sparkled. He placed the piece of jewelry back in its box and came to his feet. He walked up to Tony taking him in his arms. He couldn’t help but to claim Tony’s mouth in a searing kiss. Only when both men panted for breath did he let go. “They look stunning.”

Tony pressed his body against Gibbs’. “You’re hard as a rock.” His hand found the bulge in his lover’s pants and squeezed the cock once.

“All your fault,” Gibbs replied as he placed a hand at the back of Tony’s head and pulled him in for another kiss.

Tony melted against him and rubbed their bodies together. His own jeans tented and he reached for the button at the top to rid himself of the confiding article of clothing. He moaned when his hand was swiped away.

“Mine,” Gibbs took hold of Tony’s wrists and held them to his sides as he continued kissing Tony hard.

“Please,” Tony gasped for breath and together they stumbled over to their bed. Even before they landed on the bed, their clothes gave way for skin as they touched, caressed and licked each other, their pleasure rising with each passing second.

Gibbs turned their bodies and helped Tony onto his hands and knees. They’d finally managed to figure out a few sexual positions that wouldn’t place extra strain on Tony’s shoulders and back. He wasn’t planning on taking Tony like this, but just thinking of the piece of jewelry on the bedside table made him want to eat Tony out. He wanted to hear Tony beg him for more, before he would turn them again and made Tony ride him until they are both spent.

He spread Tony’s ass cheeks and used the broad side of his tongue to lap at Tony’s puckered opening. Soon it was slick with spit, the little opening gaping in need as he pressed his tongue in and slowly started to tongue fuck his lover. He kneaded Tony’s globes, spread them wide, used his spit to make it even slicker before he pushed his tongue in again and used short jabs to make Tony moan with desire. When Tony started to beg Gibbs added a finger and slowly worked Tony open.

Tony groaned as he rocked backwards onto his lover’s fingers and gasped as a hard slap landed on his exposed ass, at sting and he shivered as Jethro immediately smoothed the aching flesh with his hand while his other hand finger fucked him over and over. “Please, fuck, please, Jethro, please.” Tony continued to plead. He’d stopped rocking backwards, but it was starting to be difficult to keep still. His own cock was hard and leaking freely. A pearl of pre-cum had already dropped onto the sheet beneath him.

“Patience,” Jethro whispered against his hole before he moved backward and pressed two of his fingers into the tight muscle. Both men groaned in unison as Tony’s channel closed over Jethro’s fingers, almost sucking him in. He dragged his fingers over Tony’s sweet spot, loving the way Tony arched upwards, the little sounds of need that escaped from his younger lover going straight to his cock. “You’re going to ride me.” He withdrew his fingers and pulled Tony off his hands and knees to kiss him again and touch him all over his body. He managed to find the lube and pushed Tony back into the previous position. With the healing scars and the fact that it still pulled, Tony found it difficult to work himself open for Jethro’s cock, but Jethro didn’t mind. He loved working Tony open. He loved the way his partner melted as he slowly took him apart.

This time around, Jethro paid more attention to that spot Tony talked about and he couldn’t help to press his finger against it. He was surprised when Tony gasped. “So sensitive.” He grinned and did it again. It seemed like Tony was correct, the perineum was indeed the outside button to his prostate gland. He continued to work Tony open and would press into the spot several occasions, making Tony shudder with need.

“FUCK!” Tony yelled as Jethro’s finger stabbed against the gland while his other hand’s fingers pressed into the perineum. The dual sensation threatened to make him lose his load without a hand around his cock or a cock up his ass. “Please, fuck me, Jethro, please.”

Jethro touched Tony’s side and as the younger man moved over, he laid down on his back. He poured more lube in his hand and smeared it over his aching cock. He helped Tony into position, guiding his cock to Tony’s hole before the head slipped in past the tight outer ring and had them both moaning in pleasure.

Tony slowly worked his hips, rotating them in a downward motion as his body accepted Jethro’s cock within him. They both sighed as Tony sat flushed against Jethro. Tony closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of Jethro’s girth inside of him, the cock pulsating strongly.

“You gonna move soon?” Jethro asked, his pupils dilated with lust.

“Getting impatient?” Tony asked with a husky voice.

Jethro snorted. “As if you have patience.” He grabbed hold of Tony’s hips and thrust upwards, making them both gasp and spurring Tony to start moving. Jethro kept his hands on Tony’s thighs as his lover moved up and down on his shaft, their breathing sped up, Tony’s movements became hurried and Jethro snaked a hand around Tony’s dripping cock and started to fist it with the same rhythm Tony was riding him. He dragged his thumbnail over the piss slit, it made Tony shudder and he did it again to experience the same reaction again.

Tony gasped for air as Jethro’s cock brushed against his prostate. The pleasure continued to build up inside of him, bringing him closer to the edge with each synchronized movement between them. “Close, so fucking close.” Tony slammed down again, flesh hitting flesh and then Jethro twisted his fist around Tony’s cock and dragged his nail over the sensitive head and it was enough. Tony’s orgasm poured over him from the deepest part inside of him and spread over his whole body. His cock pulsated as he started to cum. He spilled over Jethro’s hand, stomach and chest and at the same time his channel tightened around Jethro’s shaft and with a grunt, his lover reached his own point of no return as he spilled his seed deep within Tony’s walls. Both men continued to ride their pleasure wave until Tony tumbled over while Jethro’s softening cock slipped free.

Jethro kept Tony close to his chest as they both got their breathing under control and only then, he moved them so that he could get a wet cloth to wipe them clean. When he came back, Tony snuggled up to his side and he hugged his lover tight.

“I’ll phone Aaron and make an appointment with him.” Tony said sleepy.

Jethro grunted as his cock twitched at the thought. “Only if I’m there as well.”

Tony smiled. “Only when you’re there, I promise.” They fell silent and soon both men drifted off to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Epilogue**

**Two months later**

Tony silently shifted into the row where Balboa, Pacci and Gibbs sat. His hands trembled lightly, but he managed to smile when Jethro took his hand in his and squeezed it hard. He took a quick look around and sighed silently in relief when he saw that the rest of the courtroom remained empty. Abby wanted to come, but Ducky managed to get her to stay away and the older man himself decided to stay away. They’d managed to keep the press in the dark on exactly when the sentencing would be, another thing Tony was grateful for. He looked on as the side door opened and Shepard entered, two police escorts at her side. She smiled when she saw Gibbs, but her whole demeanor changed when her eyes landed on him. She still hated him with everything inside of her. He was grateful for the arm Jethro put across his shoulders. He didn’t look away as she made her way over to the defense table. The prosecution arrived seconds later, not long thereafter the judge entered, and they all got to their feet.

The proceeding itself didn’t last long. For not contesting any of the charges against her, Shepard got a deal. One that Gibbs was not happy about, but Tony couldn’t care less. For the rest of her life she would be behind bars, with no possibility of parole. She would be kept in a maximum-security facility with little to no freedom at all. It was enough. She would rot in hell.

They still had to deal with the pain of the Saunders matter. The assassin was going on trial and the DA hoped for the death penalty. Tony just wanted it to be over with. He rose to his feet when the men around him did the same. This part was done. For now, he could concentrate on his own health and his relationship with the man he loved. They would worry about the rest later.

**o0o--NCIS_BigBang2016--o0o**

**Five months later**

Tony lowered his weapon, made sure the chamber was empty before ejecting the magazine and placing the pistol down. He removed the protective covers from his ears.

“Saunders received the death penalty.” Gibbs stated. Tony refused to talk about the matter after he testified in the trial. He did not follow the news, or read any of the articles in the newspapers. He avoided the press who haunted him around every corner; instead, he concentrated on his own rehabilitation. He had managed to exceed every doctor and specialists’ expectations and regained use of his shoulders and arms, although he did lose some strength in them. He still suffered from muscle pains, especially after taking down a suspect who refused to give up, or lifting something too heavy. It would be like that for the rest of his life. The scars that decorated his back and his shoulders served as a reminder of what he’d overcome, but he refused to acknowledge them, ignoring them, even going as far as shutting down when Gibbs massaged them to get rid of the spasms. It became a huge point in his reinstatement as field agent, the psychologist refused to sign him off for active duty, until Ducky stepped in. Today he had the last obstacle to overcome and requalify with his weapons.

Tony merely nodded his head. He turned when Balboa walked in their direction. “And?” He asked with a cocky grin on his face.

Balboa rolled his eyes. “I’ve already signed you off, DiNozzo.” He handed Gibbs the file in his hands. “I never knew.”

Tony looked uncomfortable, and Gibbs smiled. “If it wasn’t for the fact that Director Vance didn’t want me to oversee this, you still wouldn’t know.”

“Why do you keep it quiet?” Balboa questioned. “And why the other results?”

Tony gave half a shrug. “To give the Probies something to work towards. If they look at the _alternative_ scores, they feel they have a chance in beating it, so they try harder. If they saw the real scores, they would not try. They wouldn’t strive to do better and Gibbs only accepts the best on his team.”

Balboa only shook his head. “You’ve beaten Gibbs’ scores on every weapon each and every time since you started here.”

Tony shook his head. “Not true. There’s one time which I didn’t.”

“Those scores are actually real?” Balboa sounded surprised.

“It was the day after he got released from hospital with the plague. I was certain he wouldn’t be able to qualify and that would’ve been my reason to bench him.” Gibbs explained.

Balboa grinned. “They were much lower than the others, but he still qualified.”

“He did.” Gibbs responded proudly. He handed the file back to Agent Balboa. “Take it up to the Director, please.”

“Will do so.” Balboa turned and left, leaving Tony and Gibbs behind.

“You still didn’t respond to the news.”

Tony lowered his head. “You want an official statement from me?” He snapped and held up his hand. “Sorry, that was uncalled for.” He sighed. “I’m glad it’s done.” There was nothing else to say.

“Me too.” Gibbs pulled Tony into his arms. “We’re off rotation for the next few days. The truck is loaded, as soon as you’re done here; we’re heading out to the cabin.”

A genuine smile appeared on Tony’s face. “That sounds good. You going to fuck me against every surface?”

Gibbs cocked his head. “Only if you beg nicely.” He laughed and kissed his lover hard as Tony gasped out of mock shock.

“I can start begging now.” Tony moved their bodies and pressed himself against Gibbs. He managed to fit a hand between the two of them and gently palmed the silver haired man.

Gibbs growled and removed Tony’s hand from his growing cock. “In the truck, you can start begging in the truck.” He kept Tony’s hand in his and dragged Tony to the door.

Tony’s laugh filled the large interior space as the two men moved out. He could only hope his partner was parked where the security cameras would not pick them up, because he was indeed planning to beg as soon as they got to the truck. He could not wait for Gibbs’ cock to fill his mouth, to taste the man that meant the world to him, to find his own release when he brought Gibbs to completion. It was the perfect start to some away time for both of them.

[ ](http://s792.photobucket.com/user/Dont_hate_me01/media/If%20Looks%20Could%20Kill%20Book%20Cover_zpsmz0mpq8n.png.html)

**THE END**


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